E-911 changes will save lives
By JARED PUTNAM

Mapping Technician Tina Glenn demonstrates the new E-911 Database.

After more than a year of work, Union County's E-911 address renumbering is nearing completion. In that time approximately 8,700 residences have been addressed, and work is expected to begin inside the city limits of Blairsville within the next six to eight weeks.

"This will be the last time that addresses are changed," said E911 Director Lt. Matt Hromalik. The new system is being put in place to provide better information for rescue workers responding to emergency calls.

The renumbering was also necessary due to growth. The same guidelines that the Department of Transportation (DOT) use are now being utilized. Numbers are being assigned based on a 5.28 system. This allows for a number to be assigned every 5.28 ft. Hromalik said the old grid system did not allow for expansion.

Addresses begin on the south or west end of each road. One side has even numbers the other side has odd. Those doing the mapping are collecting info, taking pictures, getting descriptions, and attempting to gather any important medical information or special needs about the occupants of a household. All the information goes into a database for the E-911 center. Medical information remains confidential.

Hromalik said that getting medical information is especially important because if there is a 911 hangup call or a call with no voice on the line and the database shows a serious medical condition of an occupant of the house, the E-911 center can get an ambulance on the road with little delay.

Most people will probably have low numbered addresses, but high numbers are impossible to avoid on larger roads such as stretches of Hwy. 129 and Hwy. 515. E-911 Mapping Technician Tina Glenn explained that no house will get the number 13, nor will any home get the number 666. "Those numbers have been omitted," said Glenn. One important aspect of the

new system is that addresses are also now being put in a GPS system, which is expected to be ready in early 2007. Hromalik said the majority of calls that come in now are cell phone calls, and there currently is no way of pinpointing where such a call is coming from. Thanks to new equipment, they will soon be able to locate a call within 200-300 ft.

The new database can also be provided to any department that needs it. Hromalik said that he had used the system in Early County prior to coming to Union County. There it had a 99 percent accuracy rate.

The database lists the mileage to the home and which precinct of volunteer fire department it is in. Other pertinent information such as the location of fire hydrants, water sources,

and emergency landing zones are listed as well. Also included are aerial photos, along with a detailed description of homes, including the roof type (metal or shingled), if it is a paved or gravel drive, and whether or not it has a basement.

This helps emergency workers in cases such as a fire in order to be more aware of the danger of falling through the floor if the structure is heavily involved. Another example is that of a farm with horses, where pastures can be listed in order to pinpoint where someone has gone down if they have fallen off a horse. "It's a great system," said Glenn, "I love it."

Hromalik also said that the county is considering providing standard 911 address markers for yards, a proposal he hopes to see come to fruition.