Presque Isle Central Dispatch located at the Sheriff's Department is fully staffed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year. Presque Isle Central dispatches all police, fire and ambulance services in the County of Presque Isle and also handles Department of Natural Resource and Michigan State Police calls.
When the 9-1-1 number was inaugurated in Haleyville (Alabama) in 1968 as the result of an AT & T proposal, it was intended as an easily remembered, no-coin method of reaching the correct law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies. Today, officials estimate that over 270,000 calls are made to 9-1-1 each day in the United States.
An enhanced 9-1-1 system has the ability to display the caller's address and telephone number at the PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) for the dispatcher's reference. Some systems also have the ability to automatically ring-back the caller on hang-up, to lock a line open for tracing, or to transfer calls to other agencies with a single button.
A 9-1-1 Emergency is: any type of fire, any serious medical problem, any life threatening situation or any crime in progress.
If you dial 9-1-1 in error, do not hang up the telephone. Stay on the line and explain to the dispatcher that you dialed in error. If you hang up, the dispatcher will call back to confirm that there is no emergency. If you don't answer, a police officeror deputy must be dispatched to confirm that you are O.K.
Do not program 9-1-1 into your auto-dial telephone. Programming the number invites accidental dialing of the number and could needlessly tie up the system with non-emergency calls.
When the dispatcher answers your 9-1-1 call, briefly describe the emergency you are reporting. For example, "I'm reporting a fire," or "I'm reporting a burglary."
Let the dispatcher ask you questions – they have been trained to ask questions that will help prioritize the incident, locate it and speed up an appropriate response. Your answers should be brief and responsive. Remain calm and speak clearly.
Listen to the dispatcher's instructions for assistance if you are in danger. The dispatcher may tell you to leave the building, secure yourself in a room or take other action to protect yourself. Don't hang up the phone until the dispatcher tells you to.
If you are calling on a cellular phone, your telephone number and location may or may not be displayed for the dispatcher's use. You must be able to describe your location so emergency units can respond. Often cellular calls are routed to a central PSAP that could be many miles from your location. Be prepared to give the dispatcher your complete location – city or town, street address or location, inside or outside of the building, etc.
