If you live, work or travel within the jurisdiction of our member agencies which include Amityville, Babylon, Copiague, Deer Park, Lindenhurst, North Amityville, North Babylon, North Lindenhurst, West Babylon and Wyandanch, you should know how to call in your emergency!

 

There are 2 options available to you to call in your emergency. One is to dial 911 and the other is to dial our seven digit number 631-226-1212. Each of these options has it’s own benefits.

 

Option 1 - Dialing 911:

 

• Since the inception of Enhanced 911 on January 4, 1998 Babylon Central Fire Alarm has been the designated Public Safety Answering Point for the Town of Babylon. Any caller who dials 911 from a physical address (i.e. a residence, apartment complex or commercial building)  indicating a fire or rescue emergency will be automatically transferred to our communications center. This is done while the Suffolk County Police Turret Operator remains on the line with you. The enhanced 911 system gives us immediate access to a screen which lists the telephone number from which you are calling, the location of that telephone ( or address ), Community, Police Department Response, Fire Response and Ambulance Response. We will complete the "interrogation" or interview with you, since we already have the address you are calling from on screen we will simply have to confirm the information and attain the rest of the information on your emergency.

 

• Dialing 911 with a cell phone - The number of 911 calls placed by people using wireless phones has significantly increased in recent years. It is estimated that about 70 percent of 911 calls are placed from wireless phones, and that percentage is growing. Here are things to remember when dialing 911 wirelessly (wirless info courtesy of the FCC):

 

Tips for 911 Calling

 

• Tell the emergency operator the location of the emergency right away

 

• Provide the emergency operator with your wireless phone number, so if the call gets disconnected, the emergency operator can call you back

 

• PSAPs currently lack the technical capability to receive texts, photos and videos

 

• If your wireless phone is not “initialized” (meaning you do not have a contract for service with a wireless service provider), and your emergency call gets disconnected, you must call the emergency operator back because the operator does not have your telephone number and cannot contact you

 

• To help public safety personnel allocate emergency resources, learn and use the designated number in your state for highway accidents or other non life-threatening incidents (States often reserve specific numbers for these types of incidents. For example, “#77” is the number used for highway accidents in Virginia.)

 

• Refrain from programming your phone to automatically dial 911 when one button, such as the “9” key, is pressed. Unintentional wireless 911 calls, which often occur when auto-dial keys are inadvertently pressed, cause problems for emergency call centers

 

• If your wireless phone came pre-programmed with the auto-dial 911 feature already turned on, turn this feature off (consult your user manual for instructions)

 

• Lock your keypad when you’re not using your wireless phone to help prevent accidental calls to 911

 

• Consider creating a contact in your wireless phone’s memory with the name “ICE” (in Case of Emergency), which lists the phone numbers of people you want to have notified in an emergency

 

 

 

Option 2 - Dial 226-1212:

 

This is the seven digit telephone number for you to directly contact our emergency communications center. When you call we will not have the screen of information with your location and telephone number. We DO have caller ID for LISTED telephone numbers, which will allow us to attain your location information from you during the interrogation or interview process. When you DIAL 226-1212 you will never get a busy signal and you will never get a recording asking you to hold on. Your call will always be answered by a professional dispatcher ready to aide in your emergency.

 

If your phone number is UNLISTED, then it will not show up in our caller ID system.

 

 

 

- WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW 

 

If you experience an emergency , there is essential information you will need to give the dispatcher.

 

• Type of Emergency

• Your Name

• Incident Location

• Nearest Cross Street

• Town/Hamlet

• Telephone Number

 

To ensure an immediate response to your emergency, we ask that you not dismiss answering the essential information listed above! For example, there are 8 'Smith Streets' in the Town of Babylon. We need to be accurate and send the correct fire or rescue district to you.

 

If you are calling for an ambulance, the dispatcher is going to continue with you on the line with specific questions in order to assess the patient and administer treatment. This is called EMD or Emergency Medical Dispatch. This service is provided in order for there be a zero response time to your emergency and treatment can begin immediately by you through the instructions you will receive from the dispatcher.

 

Our EMD service will not delay the activation for an ambulance to your location. Help is on the way immediately! Our office simultaneously dispatches an ambulance in your rescue district while we remain on the line with you.

 

Each and Every Dispatcher at Babylon Central Fire Alarm is a certified Emergency Medical Dispatcher. The dispatcher (EMD) is going to ask you key questions pertaining to the injured or sick person for whom you are requesting an ambulance. They are going to give you patient care instructions for you to administer until the arrival of an ambulance. Depending on the nature of the illness or injuries the dispatcher may keep you on the phone continuing instructions until the arrival of an EMS crew or Police Officer or may give you initial instructions and advise you to call back if the patient’s condition changes in ANY way.