Flagler County Fire Rescue encourages residents to sign up for RapidSOS

Palm Coast Observer
Your Town

by: Lacy Martin

Marketing Media Manager, Flagler County

Flagler County Fire Rescue is now using RapidSOS technology to ensure dispatchers and emergency personnel receive necessary health-related information quickly about the location and potential medical needs of patients who have called for help. Officials are encouraging residents to sign up with this service.

“When we first learned about this tool, we were eager to get it implemented,” Deputy Chief Percy Sayles said. “It makes our jobs to respond to a situation that much easier by having the specific health profiles in hand before arriving.”

RapidSOS is an emergency response data platform that both protects and delivers life-saving data from over 350 million devices that connect directly to 911, and first responders in the event of an emergency.

When callers dial 911 from the phone number associated with the profile, the software transmits pertinent information to the 911 dispatcher, who will, in turn, relay the information to the emergency medical personnel.

Fire Rescue and Community Paramedicine are focusing to get all Flagler County residents, 16 and older, registered through the user profile by creating a free account at www.EmergencyProfile.org.

RapidSOS has been in use by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office since early February and has seen success. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners, upgraded the radio system to the Motorola p-25 digital system and upgraded the computer aided dispatch technology to include this feature.

“It has been a very successful, supplemental resource for our first responders,” said Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Director of Communications Christina Mortimer. “RapidSOS speeds up the call processing time.”