General Information - Summit Fire Department - Calling 911 - What to do when you see lights and sirens

General Information

Calling 9-1-1
Doney Park and Timberline-Fernwood are served by the Enhanced 9-1-1 system. This means that the 9-1-1 operator (referred to as the "dispatcher") can identify through the system's computer, the phone number and address of the calling party. This assists in timely dispatch

Common fire emergencies include structure fires, brush fires, and car fires. Common medical emergencies include heart attack, car accidents, respiratory difficulty, seizures and ill persons.

When a call is received by the 9-1-1 dispatcher, they will say, "What is your emergency?" The caller should tell the dispatcher which type of emergency they are reporting or give a description of the problem. The dispatcher will begin to dispatch emergency units immediately.

The Summit Fire District is served by three fire stations which are manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Once the fire department is notified, the closest unit will be sent to ensure that help arrives as soon as possible. Many times more that one fire truck will arrive at the scene. All Summit firefighters are trained at a minimum level of EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). We currently have 9 Paramedics that are capable of providing advanced life support treatment including IV's, drug therapy and cardiac monitoring.

Whenever a person calls 9-1-1, their message needs to be clear. They also need to stay on the phone until the person in the 9-1-1 center has released them from the conversation.

Try to stay calm. State what kind of emergency it is - fire, car accident, heart attack, etc. Then tell the dispatcher where the incident is.

Stay on the phone. The dispatcher may ask more questions or want you to stay on the line. Emergency units already have been dispatched even while you are talking with the dispatcher. Children should be taught their home address and telephone number as soon as possible. In most cases, when a caller dials 9-1-1, the address and phone number of the caller's location is displayed to the 9-1-1 dispatcher. However, this is not always verified because of information that may be called in from cellular or mobile phones.

What To Do When You See Lights & Sirens
When you see a fire truck, ambulance or police car with its lights and siren on the emergency vehicle is going "Code 3". When an emergency vehicle is heard and/or seen, drivers should carefully pull their vehicle to the right of the road and stop. If they are at an intersection, or stopped in traffic when they see lights or hear a siren, drivers should remain stopped and wait until the emergency vehicles have passed. Once the emergency vehicle has passed remain 500 feet or more behind the vehicle.

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