PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. -- If you were to have or witness an emergency during off-duty hours your first instinct most likely would be to dial "911" for help.
However, at Picatinny Arsenal, employees have become accustomed to calling a different number, purely out of habit.
In your office, your natural tendency might be to dial "4," and then the four digit extension, "6666" to reach the police desk.
While that is not entirely wrong, it is not what emergency responders want you to do.
According to Police Chief Robert Frutchey an enhanced 911 system was launched on the installation in December 2014.
This system is far more advanced for emergency situations and can better serve not only emergency responders but also any employees who might need medical attention.
"With the new system we can detect exactly within 10 feet of the location where the call is being made from," Frutchey said.
This system works regardless if a call is made from a cell phone or a work phone at your desk.
The information appears on a map at the dispatcher's desk, and is then provided to responding officials.
"If you dial '911' from an office phone on say the third floor of a building, we can pinpoint the cubicle to which the call came from. If you call '6666' all we see is what every once sees: the name and number," Frutchey said.
Both 911 and 6666 calls are received at the same location, the Picatinny Arsenal Police Department.
Frutchey said that no matter where you are--on or off the installation--you will always receive an answer through 911.
"Picatinny has two 911 lines. Even if there were an emergency and several people called 911 at the same time, tying up the lines, the call would be re-routed to the nearest 911 center. In this instance, it would be Morris County," he said.
EVERY CALL TO RESOLUTION
These call centers or public service answering points (PSAP) have a duty to "answer a call within 10 seconds and there is [typically] a response of seven minutes," Frutchey said.
"The operator is required to work every call to resolution--meaning that they will stay on the phone until emergency personnel are on the scene," he added.
The police chief said that some callers to 911 make a mistake of believing that a quick, brief phone call is enough.
"Stay on the phone," Frutchey said.
"The operator's job is to get as much information as they can to help personnel responding to the scene. The more information they have, the better off they are. Do not hang up," he advised.
"Every operator has a list of questions they will ask. The first question will always be 'Where is your emergency?' Not 'What is your emergency?' But 'Where?'"
Frutchey explained the reasoning for that is two-fold. First, say the call did get transferred to another PSAP, they would ensure that the call gets to the closer PSAP. In addition, if the call gets dropped, the operator would know where the emergency was and can send someone to investigate.
All calls placed to 911 are recorded and saved for playback.
WHEN TO CALL 6666
The police chief states that it not wrong to call "6666."However, that number should be used for non-emergency situations.
"Call '6666' when you are locked out of a building, or a car won't start, or you need to speak to an officer about something that is not extremely urgent," Frutchey said.
When calling 911 from a work station phone, you do not need to enter the prefix "4" as is common with other calls.
Social Sharing