Frequently Asked Questions

Teletypewriter (TTY) or Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD)

If you use a TTY or TDD you should:

• Stay calm, place the phone receiver in the TTY, then dial 911.
• After the call is answered, press the TTY keys several times. This may help shorten the time necessary to respond to the call.
• Give the call taker time to connect their TTY. If necessary, press the TTY keys again. The 911 call taker should answer and type "GA" for Go Ahead.
• Tell what is needed; the police, fire department, or Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Give your name, phone number and the address or location where help is needed.
• Stay on the telephone if it is safe. Answer the call taker's questions.

Video Relay Service (VRS) or Internet Protocol (IP) Relay

If you use a VRS or IP Relay you should:

• Register and provide your address with the relay provider of your choice. Keep your address updated.
• Be aware that relay calls may take several minutes to connect. If you hang up, your call may not be connected to 911.
• Be prepared to provide your location information using an address, cross streets and/or landmarks, since relay calls may not display your location.
• Answer the call taker's questions.
• You may need to be transferred to another 911 center. Stay on the call if it is safe.

If You Don't Have Access to a TTY/TDD

If you do not have a TTY/TDD or access to Relay services, you should dial 911, preferably from a landline/home phone. Do not hang up, keep the line open. With 911 calls made from a home phone, the caller's address is displayed on the call taker's screen, the call taker can listen for background noise, and help will be sent to the location displayed. As a last resort, call from a cell phone and leave the line open, your approximate location may be displayed.

Your call goes directly to the Public Safety Agency in your area. Communications Center personnel are especially trained to get fast, accurate, and complete information from callers, who are injured, distraught or in shock, from children, the elderly, the hearing impaired. Even if you do not say a word- because of trauma, injury, or physical danger- all this information is electronically available instantly to the operator receiving your call. At that moment, the dispatcher sends a unit while you are still on the line with the operator, so do not hang up. The center also has teletypewriter (TTY) capability for deaf citizens. 

Information 911 Operator Receives

The 911 operator taking your call immediately sees on a computer screen:

• The address from which you are calling
• The ambulance service
• The closet fire station
• The nearest police location
• Your phone number

• In an emergency, dial 911 on your phone. It's a free call. You can use any kind of phone: push button, rotary, cellular/wireless, cordless, or pay phone. (With some pay phones, you may need coins to get a dial tone; with many wireless phones, Enhanced 911 does not yet work.)
• Stay calm and state your emergency
• Speak loudly and clearly. Give the 911 call taker your name, phone number and the address where help is needed.
• Answer the call taker's questions. Stay on the telephone if it's safe to do so, and don't hang up until the call taker tells you to.

Enhanced 911 is a system that links emergency callers with the appropriate public resources. The system tries to automatically associate a location with the origin of the call. This location may be a physical address or other geographic reference information such as X/Y map coordinates. The caller's telephone number is used in various ways to derive a location that can be used to dispatch the necessary response resources. Automatic location of the emergency makes it quicker to locate the required resources during events that communicating one's location is difficult or impossible.

Enhanced 911 Can Help Everyone

Not only does the Enhanced 911 Emergency Phone System save time, it also has other advantages. Even a lost child or a seriously ill person can call 911 for help, knowing help will be there shortly. 911 is an easy to remember number, no matter in the dark, for the mentally disabled, persons in any state of trauma or injury, or the elderly and young citizens.

The number 911 is a nationwide emergency number. These examples are not suppositions- they're proven facts: 911 works.

Silence Doesn't Stop Enhanced 911

When a call is received with no conversation, the nearest police unit will be dispatched and the nearby fire station will be put on alert. If the location is a good distance away, or if the printout screen shows an ill or disabled person in the residence, the ambulance and fire truck will proceed.

After a serious accident, a motorist from another city needs help. He doesn't know which agency to call, but by dialing 911, his call is automatically routed to the Public Safety Answering Point serving that area. Selective routing is particularly helpful in areas with multiple jurisdictions. No time is lost looking up numbers or transferring the call from one public safety agency to another searching for the correct one.

Do not tie up a 911 line for general information, such as; time of day, location of street, addresses, other Public Safety Agencies; follow up information about a previous emergency. If you dial 911 by mistake tell the operator it was an accident.

The Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling Service is designed to make it easier for police; fire and ambulance help to reach you faster. All 911 calls in West Baton Rouge Parish are answered by the Central Communications center All medical calls are transferred to Acadian Ambulance Service, who will remain on the line and give pre-arrival instructions and dispatch a unit.