Palm Beach County Emergency Management/9-1-1 Division participates in Fairs, Expos, and Special events/requests. They are just usually table top information and interactions with the public.
We have a brochure that we focus on what 9-1-1 is how it is evolving into NG 9-1-1, the importance of knowing the type of device you have. What 9-1-1 can and cannot do at this point referencing to text and video. We use Cell phone Sally as our mascot and use her video for the K-3 age group.
We have not concentrated on 9-1-1 Education Month as much in years past.
-Our plans for this year is to concentrate more on reaching out to the public and concentrating on 9-1-1 Education, tying in recognition of telecommunicators in the process.
As stated above, we did not proactively reach out so much in the past. However, the times we were involved in public education it usually is tied in with “Public Safety Day”. Also, when young children visit our Comm Center and we get to show them the equipment we use and the process that happens with a call is usually very well received.
I am the Public Educator for E9-1-1 in Vermont. My position is a new one, so I am starting from scratch, and excited about taking part in 9-1-1 Education Month this coming April. I’m pleased to share what I am working on…though some of it is still in the developmental stage.
I am in the process of assembling PSAs/press releases for newspaper and radio, which I will attach. We are also restructuring our http://e911.vermont.gov/ website. My personal goal is to include a general Public Education page (for adults), and a dynamic and fun page for Kids. I want the website to be updated and lively, to keep people paying attention and coming back for new information.
I’m also getting all my ducks in a row to implement a page on Facebook (consulting State of Vermont protocols and policies, accumulating input and advice from others with experience, reviewing pages from other agencies, etc.). Along with regular 9-1-1 bites of information, I plan to include local health and safety-related information and links. I want to make this an interactive and engaging site, so I plan to have a fun, friendly feel, all the while offering good and useful information that is easy to absorb. I will regularly include a question and ask for feedback, personal experiences, stories, and so on, to get the community involved in the site. I have been gathering potential links, Friends, and stories so I’ll be prepared with a solid amount of interesting material on roll-out.
I’ve joined the Safe Kids Vermont Coalition, which is the local branch of Safe Kids USA. Its participants represent a number of agencies, organizations and programs whose work is devoted to the protection, health and safety of children. This group is an excellent resource for networking, partnering, guidance and collaboration. Through my involvement, I’ve been invited to take part in several events in the coming year. In particular, I will take advantage of 4 (so far) events in April to promote National 9-1-1 Education Month.
Vermont has two cellular telephone service providers offering Text-to-9-1-1 capabilities, Verizon Wireless and Sprint/Nextel. I tagged on to the December press releases and used the opportunity to provide outreach to the deaf, hard of hearing, and speech-impaired communities in the state, to alert them to the availability of the service and to offer additional information. A new Text-to-9-1-1 page was included in a revision to our web site.
Gov. Peter Shumlin is being asked to proclaim April as National 9-1-1 Education Month, and I will use that as a photo opportunity for a press release. In addition, I plan to sponsor a National 9-1-1 Education poster contest for school-age children, with awards to be announced in early April, and submissions to be displayed on our website and Facebook page.
