The NG9-1-1 Institute and the National 9-1-1 Education Coalition call upon public and elected officials to recognize and promote Be 9-1-1 Ready for the month of April 2013.  

The coalition’s website, http://www.know911.org/, provides officials the tools and means to enhance 9-1-1 public education. A public relations toolkit and other resources to support the Be 9-1-1 Ready campaign are available currently on the www.know911.org. The website is updated frequently with content from members, local communities, and the Coalition. Sample messages include:

• Know Where You Are: Where are you right now? Could you tell 9-1-1 exactly where to find you?
• Call If you Can, Text if You Can’t: Your local 9-1-1 center may soon be able to accept SMS text messages provided by your wireless service provider. Continue to call 9-1-1 until you know your 9-1-1 center can accept text messages.
• Stay Calm & Ready to Listen: 9-1-1 is here to help you through until help arrives. Be ready to listen and follow directions.

The Coalition encourages public and elected officials to create and promote local events during the month of April such as school outreach, street fairs featuring first responders and their equipment, and distribution of 9-1-1 public educational materials. See the 2013 National 9-1-1 Education Month press Release here.

About the National 9-1-1 Education Coalition and National 9-1-1 Education Month:

April was first recognized as National 9-1-1 Education Month by the U.S. Congress in 2008, in support of the National 9-1-1 Education Coalition, an alliance of eight national organizations dedicated to advancing 9-1-1 public education across the country.

The vision of the National 9-1-1 Education Coalition is to save lives and improve emergency response by creating a national 9-1-1 education and awareness effort to ensure the appropriate and responsible use of 9-1-1 resources and embraces contemporary communications opportunities. The Coalition also supports access to the “best of the best” 9-1-1 educational and promotional ideas, and fosters the advancement of 9-1-1 technology and services to meet the evolving needs of the public to access emergency help.

The organizations of the Coalition include the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO); CTIA – The Wireless Association®; the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT), the NG9-1-1 Institute; the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED); the National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators (NASNA); the National Emergency Number Association (NENA); and 9-1-1 For Kids.