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1. When do I dial 911? What is an emergency?

Emergency is defined as a situation where life and/or property is in immediate danger. Please call 911 to report situations such as traffic accidents with injuries, any medical emergency, burglaries to vehicles, residences, businesses or robberies occurring now or just occurred (defined as "in-progress"), domestic violence, any situation involving a weapon, etc. If you are in doubt, call 911. If it is not an emergency, the 911 dispatcher will give you the non-emergency number to the police, fire or sheriff's department. This allows the 911 lines to stay open for emergencies.

2. What if I dial 911 by mistake?

DON'T HANG UP!
Tell the 911 operator what happened: you were dialing long distance, the automatic dialer button was accidentally pushed, etc. If you hang up we must re-contact you to make sure everything is ok. If your telephone line is busy or we don't get an answer we will send a Police Officer or a Sheriff's Deputy (if you live outside Midland city limits) to your residence to make sure everything is ok.

3. What if I am calling from a cellular phone?

GIVE THE DISPATCHER YOUR LOCATION
Midland PSAP can receive cellular phone calls from 17 surrounding counties. At this time the Enhanced 911 ANI/ALI (Automatic Number Identifier/Automatic Location Identifier) system is unable to give the locations of cellular calls. After you tell us what type of response you are needing, please give us a location: the name of the city, a mile marker on the interstate highway, a highway name, etc. so we will transfer you to the correct responding agency. Please do not hang up, we will stay on the line with you until the transfer is completed.

4. What questions will the dispatcher ask me when I call 911?

WHERE? WHAT? WHEN? WHO? WHY? HOW? WEAPONS?

Dispatchers ask a standard set of questions to prioritize your call and determine the response you need. After the dispatcher verifies the location with you, a response is already on the way. The dispatcher knows the address you are calling from, but does not know the address where you need help sent to until you verify that address. You must then answer the additional questions to further help the law enforcement officers, the fire department or the paramedics. The dispatcher relays the pertinent information by radio to the responding units prior to their arrival at the scene. This increases the chances of survival of a medical patient or injured person or the prevention of a crime and/or the apprehension of a suspect.

5. Is toll-free and TDD/TTY access available?

Twenty-four hour, toll-free, TDD/TTY, telephone access for emergency 911 and non-emergency calls for service as well as prompt handling and routing of misdirected calls.