West Palm Beach Residents Can Now Share Critical Health Data With 911

From the City of West Palm Beach:

September 10, 2020

City of West Palm Beach residents can now create a free Emergency Health Profile at emergencyprofile.org to share opt-in medical information with the West Palm Beach Police Department (WPBPD) in the event of an emergency. Emergency technology company RapidSOS teamed up with the non-profits American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, and Direct Relief to launch this initiative to help first responders get vital information in an emergency, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The nation’s 911 infrastructure was built in the 1960s for landline phones, requiring individuals to verbally speak critical data to responders in an emergency. To address this challenge, RapidSOS’s emergency response data platform links real-time health and location information from connected devices, apps, and profiles with 911. This helps provide context beyond what the caller in crisis is able to convey. This data helps WPBPD accelerate response and provides first responders with life-saving information. WPBPD telecommunicators use RapidSOS Portal, a free browser-based tool, to access accurate location and additional life-saving information when responding to 911 calls.

“Each and every day, our first responders are working to protect our residents, save lives, and make our city even safer,” said West Palm Beach Mayor Keith A. James. “In the event of an emergency, every second counts. We are pleased to introduce this technology to our residents. It is an option which will help us better serve our community members in the event of emergency.”

“Being able to receive a caller’s opt-in health information will better inform our first responders during emergencies,” said WPBPD Chief Frank Adderley. “Utilizing 21st century technology, our residents can now create their free Emergency Health Profile to help ensure they are able to share critical data with 911 to help protect lives.”

People can create their free RapidSOS Ready Emergency Health Profile at emergencyprofile.org and enter pertinent medical and profile information, such as:

• ●Name, DOB, and address
• ●Pre-existing conditions
• ●Allergies
• ●Medical notes
• ●COVID-19 symptoms
• ●Emergency contacts

“Our 911 agencies and first responders do incredible work every day to keep our communities safe,” said RapidSOS Senior Director of Public Safety Karin Marquez. “We hope that the Emergency Health Profile will provide WPBPD telecommunicators and first responders with another tool to help them respond quickly and with appropriate care.”

To ensure data privacy, information is associated with an individual’s phone number and made available to first responders only when a 911 call is placed from the associated phone number. To learn more and create a free emergency profile, visit www.emergencyprofile.org.

This press release was produced by the City of West Palm Beach. The views expressed are the author's own.