The Conroe City Council was briefed on a new ad campaign intended to sign up more citizens for Smart 911, a program that provides family and facility information to 911 operators, at the regular July 26 council meeting.
Council Member Jody Czajkoski was absent, and no vote was taken.
Andrea Wilson, public education coordinator with the Montgomery County Emergency Communication District, said the program is free and has been in use in Conroe for two and a half years. The new ad campaign is a partnership between MCECD and the Conroe Fire Department.
"[Citizens] can go in and create a household profile for their home and, in the event someone connected to the home calls 911, the profile pops up at the Conroe Police Department and can pop up in fire dispatch and EMS with access to any information the household person has put in there—medical details, allergies—anything they'd want first responders to know if they call 911," Wilson said.
Facilities such as Conroe Tower can also create profiles that will pop up if anyone at that GPS location calls 911, Wilson said. These profiles can include information on floor plans and AED equipment locations.
The system also works as a reverse 911, sending out emergency alerts in case of hurricane evacuations or other emergencies. To create an account, the only required information is a name, phone number and address, Wilson said.
"Anything put in there is strictly based on what you want to share," Wilson said. "No data is kept with us at 911. Citizens agree to let Rave Mobile Safety, the company we contract with, keep their data in a secure database in two sections of the U.S."
Currently, 550 households are signed up in Conroe. Learn more at
Smart911.com.
In other news Thursday, the council:
- Convened in a closed executive session to evaluate the performance of the director of public works and the director of community development, and to discuss the value, purchase or exchange of property.
- Named Larry Owens, building inspector, employee of the month.
- Unanimously approved the third amendment to the Capital Improvement Budget, and the fifth amendment to the city's Operating Budget for fiscal year 2018-19 to reallocate money among projects.
