LANSING, Mich. — Dialing 9-1-1 could mean the difference between life and death, but what if the caller isn't able to see, speak or hear? How can the caller communicate with dispatch what the emergency is, their location, the medications they take or are allergic to or any pre-existing conditions?
This exact situation happened to Lansing resident Chuck Ayotte.
Ayotte loves the Beatles, collects autographed baseballs and has been blind most of his life due to a rare condition called Laurence-Moon-Bardet-Biedl syndrome.
"I have a pace-maker in me, I'm diabetic," Ayotte said. "I have liver problems, kidney problems."
Ayotte said he takes about a dozen medications.
"Then, I came down with COVID-19 in 2020, and I can't work anything because I'm on oxygen 24/7," Ayotte said.
When COVID-19 hit Ayotte, he became unconscious at work, unable to call 911 for himself, unable to communicate to them all of his medical history. He said he was unconscious for seven days.
"I remember being wheeled out to the ambulance, I remember them opening the ambulance back door, and I don't remember more for at least seven days," Ayotte said.
Now, thankfully, there is a way to communicate these important details with dispatch before the emergency happens, from the comfort of one's living room.
Smart911 is a website and phone application where people can set up a profile—for free—for them and their family numbers attached to their cell phone numbers.
"Whenever someone calls from one of those registered phone numbers, to 911, a screen pops up in front of 911 dispatch listing all the emergency information that you've input into Smart911's system," Community Resilience Coordinator for the Capital Area Disability Network Travis Poland said.
The only caveat is, though this service is available nationwide, only certain counties have opted in.
"Ingham, Eaton, Clinton and Shiawassee counties all use Smart911 at their dispatches," Poland said.
If the caller has the Smart911 app, which is available to Android and iPhone users, dispatch can even ping their exact location without the caller needing to say a word.
"I like to say that Smart911 is your voice," Poland said. "I put in my hair color and identifications, my medical information."
Poland recently assisted Ayotte with setting up his own Smart911 profile. Ayotte said if he'd had the profile back in 2020, it would've been beneficial.
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