Turns out, Grand Traverse 9-1-1 has a smarter way to protect us.

It’s called Smart911 and it’s a game-changer, according to Leah Hornacek, the administrative supervisor for Central Dispatch in Traverse City.

“We’re the first county in the state to approve Smart911 and soon the entire state of Michigan will have it,” she said.

What makes Smart911 different is its ability to pinpoint and locate emergencies quicker.

“It dramatically increases the amount of information available to first responders,” she said.

“We had a local case where a man was coughing but couldn’t talk when he called Smart911,” said Leah. “We were able to pinpoint the location through GPS much quicker. Responders go to him 11 minutes quicker than they would have without Smart911. So he survived. Those 11 minutes were the difference between life and death.”

Hornacek said Central Dispatch logged nearly 40,000 calls in 2014 and 75 percent of those calls-more than 30,000-were from cell phones.

Many cell phones calls don’t come from home, so if a person needs emergency help and they aren’t home, the information they furnish to smart911.com will allow first responders to get in touch with the person much faster through the use of GPS.

“How many of you currently use Smart911?” Leah asked at a local Traverse City service club of more than 200 attendees during a recent meeting. Only a few hands went up in the air.

“Well, that’s not surprising,” she said. “Right now, only 10 percent of the people in our area use it. We have to get the word out.”

She said filling out the information at smart911.com makes it easier for first responders to do their jobs.

What exactly is Smart911?

It’s a free service used by public safety agencies across the country to enhance communication and response for their community. It can be used by 9-1-1 agencies to quickly send first responders to the location of an emergency with more information, by emergency management to better plan for and respond to disasters, and by municipalities to send emergency notifications to their citizens.

By creating a Safety Profile for your family, you are providing potentially life-saving information to public safety officials at the time when they need it most.

The 9-1-1 service of Smart911 allows you to create a safety profile for your household which will proactively provide details on your family and home that 9-1-1 may need in order to send help in the event of an emergency.

The emergency management service of Smart911 allows you to answer questions about yourself, your family and your household that will help emergency management officials plan for and respond to disasters by being able to understand the needs of their community.

The emergency notification service of Smart911 allows you to opt-in to receive alerts from your community through a variety of communication channels including voice, text or email.