COUNCILLOR UPDATE – Suzanne Oel – Foothills County – Oct 2023

Suzanne Oel – Division 4

Greetings! Sharing my News Update…

Who answers your 9-1-1 Calls in Foothills County? Always call 9-1-1 when someone’s health or safety is at risk! “Foothills Regional 9-1-1” answers your 9-1-1 calls in all areas of the County and in near-by Towns as well. Before the police, firefighters or paramedics arrive, Foothills Regional 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Specialists are there for you! As the ‘first’ of the first responders, this team serves as the critical link between citizens and the services you may need during an emergency. Foothills Regional 9-1-1 also dispatches numerous Fire Departments within their Southern Alberta service area, which includes Foothills County.

What does the 9-1-1 Emergency Operator ask you when you call 9-1-1? Be prepared to answer these questions: What is your emergency? What is your phone number and location? You may be asked further questions to clarify the situation and to get you connected to the services you require. Please visit the Foothills Regional 9-1-1 website for more details about the 9-1-1 call process and the organization: https://www.fresc.ca

“What if” you have called 9-1-1 by mistake? Almost half of Foothills Regional 9-1-1 calls are accidental calls. Many phones and watches have an S.O.S. feature that people are unaware of, which could send unintended calls. If you have called 9-1-1 by accident, please do not hang up. Please stay on the line and advise the 9-1-1 operator that it was an accidental call and then answer the safety questions. This will help the 9-1-1 operator to solve this situation more quickly. Also, consider adjusting the Emergency S.O.S. features on your device to your desired settings and be aware of how they work.

Security Gates on your Property in the Event of an Emergency: With many of us having installed security gates in defense of our properties, I thought you would like to know what you can do to prepare in case you have an emergency at your place and your gate is locked.

Be aware that the gate is the owner’s responsibility.
Homeowners may choose to provide gate information to our Foothills Regional 9-1-1, who will then provide information to emergency responders.
You can provide the gate information at the time of your 9-1-1 emergency call, or you can provide it in advance to have it confidentially kept on file, in case of an emergency.
You can provide your gate code or lock box code and details about the gate. If there is a key required for the gate or lock on a chain, you can get a lock box from a Lock & Key business (or other source) and place it near the gate.
The last resort by our Fire Department is to cut the lock (yes, they carry bolt cutters & other tools), lift the gate off the hinges, pull the gate open with a chain from the fire truck engine, or various degrees of destruction to gain access. EMS and Police will not have that option. Sometimes they call the Fire Department for assistance when there is no code information on file.
The destruction of the gate in the case of an emergency is also the owner’s responsibility.
Sharing your gate code with Foothills Regional 9-1-1 is a way to make the response faster to your situation and potentially with no damage to your gate.
If you choose to do so, please register your gate information with our Foothills Regional 9-1-1 and an information note can be added to your address in our Computer-Aided- Dispatch records, so it will come up automatically when you call in, if from a landline. If you call from a cell or VOIP phone, when you give your address and they enter it in, the information will come up in the system because it is attached to your land location and 9-1-1 address.
Your information is confidential and protected. Your private gate information will only go to Foothills Regional 9- 1-1 and will only be used if you call 9-1-1. No other persons or equipment have access to the computers and dispatch system. Also, Foothills Regional 9-1-1 staff are cleared at a very high security clearance level.
To register your gate information, you can simply send an email to: Reports@ fresc.ca Please include: your name, legal address, 9-1-1 address, phone number, type of gate and lock details. You will receive an acknowledgement email reply.
Remember to also let your Alarm Company know if you have a gate and code.
Keep the information about your security gate current – please send in an update email if you change the code, etc. Or, if you decide you don’t want this information on file anymore, just ask for it to be removed from the file.
Again, this action is completely voluntary.