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City of Hazelwood Launches New Resident Emergency Contact Information Program
In response to concerns expressed by several residents, the City of Hazelwood has developed and launched a new Resident Emergency Contact Information Program. The goal is to help local police officers, paramedics and firefighters know who to contact, such as a family member, when a resident has an accident or is involved in an emergency situation.
The City has created an ICE (In Case of Emergency) form that is easy to fill out by local citizens. The only information required on this ICE form is the following: Resident’s Name; Street Address; Phone Number; and Emergency Contact Persons and their cell phone numbers. “We wanted to make this process as simple as possible without making people answer a lot of unnecessary questions and provide personal information we don’t need,”
Fire Chief and Program Administrator Dave Herman said. “The ICE form just requires the basics and takes less then five minutes to fill out and submit.”
Emergency contacts can be the next of kin, such as a spouse, son or daughter, as well as a relative or close friend. “We’re asking residents to provide us with the cell phone numbers of their emergency contacts because most people these days carry a mobile device with them and it’s a much easier way of notifying someone in an emergency,” Chief Herman said.
Residents can fill out their ICE form online at the City’s website, www.hazelwoodmo.org, or use a printed version found at one of the City’s public buildings. A large button has been added to the home page of the City’s website which says, “Click here to sign-up for the Resident Emergency Contact Information Program.”
When people click on it, an electronic version of the ICE form appears on the screen. All they need to do is fill in the blanks and hit the submit button and they’re done, said a city spokesman. This information is then added to a database which is accessible only to City first responders with a special password.
Stacks of the printed versions of the ICE forms are available for residents when they visit these City public buildings: City Hall; Public Works Department; HPD Dispatch; Civic Center East; Hazelwood Community Center; and both Fire Station #1 and Fire Station #2. Residents can fill them out on the spot and submit them to City employees who will then forward them to Hazelwood’s IT Department for processing.
Whenever Hazelwood police officers, paramedics or firefighters respond to an emergency and encounter residents that are either incapacitated or involved in a serious accident, they can access the City’s Emergency ICE database and find the person’s name and emergency contact information. They can immediately make a phone call and tell the emergency contact at which hospital the patient is being transported to.
According to Chief Herman, “When our paramedics and firefighters respond to an emergency 911 call and find a resident incapacitated or unable to communicate, time is of the essence. The quicker we can determine what the problem is and find out who we need to call, such as the next of kin, to notify them of the situation, the faster we can get the resident to a hospital emergency room. The City’s new Emergency ICE database will enable us to find a person’s emergency contact information within seconds.”
For more information on the City of Hazelwood’s new Resident Emergency Contact Information Program, contact Hazelwood Fire Chief Dave Herman at (314) 731-3424 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
