Full Notification

Porter County Announces: Smart911 Now Offers Emergency Alerts

Citizens can opt to receive emergency alerts from Porter County, as well as provide details on their household to both 9-1-1 and emergency management prior to an emergency

VALPARAISO, IN September 1, 2015 – Public safety officials in Porter County announced today that Smart911, the public safety service first implemented in Porter County in 2011, will now offer additional features to enhance communication between citizens and public safety agencies. When a citizen creates a private and secure Safety Profile at www.smart911.com, in addition to providing details about their household to 9-1-1 on emergency calls, Smart911 will now give citizens the option to opt-in to receive emergency notifications from the County.
“We take great pride in providing the best available resources to enhance safety in our community,” said 9-1-1 Director C.J. Wittmer. “By providing even more services through Smart911, we are giving citizens an easy way to communicate with us by managing all of their communication tools in one account, while now offering to provide valuable emergency notifications pertinent to the public’s interests.”

Citizens can visit www.smart911.com to sign up and create a free and secure Safety Profile for their household, providing information such as the names and photos of family members, health conditions, medications, pets in the home, vehicle details and emergency contacts. All information in each profile is voluntary, and each household can determine what details are important to include, as each household is different and therefore the potential rescue needs will also vary. If a citizen already has an account, they can log in to update their preferences and opt-in to the various services.
“One of our primary objectives is to prepare for the impacts of a disaster, in order to lessen its consequences,” said EMA Director Russell Shirley. “A significant portion of our planning activities attempt to address the specific needs of members of our community. Having advance knowledge of which residents might require special assistance during a disaster, greatly enhances our ability to respond quickly and efficiently during emergency situations. Incidents such as flooding, snow storms, tornado alerts and power outages might present certain hazards and challenges where the system will be utilized."

Smart911 is a national service, and has been adopted in 40 states and over 1,500 municipalities. Because your Safety Profile can be tied to a mobile number, if you dial 9-1-1 in any community across the U.S. that utilizes Smart911, your Safety Profile will be available to dispatchers to aid in emergency response. In Indiana, other than in Porter County, Smart911 is also available in Delaware, Kosciusko and Vigo Counties. Once created, citizens will be reminded to update or confirm their information every 6 months in order to ensure dispatchers and emergency management officials are being provided current and accurate information during their response.
Smart911 has been credited with positively impacting emergency situations and saving lives across the U.S., of which include a missing child case in Arkansas, a heart attack victim in Tennesee and a man trapped in a house fire in Michigan.