Douglas County commissioners may answer call for Smart 911 service

Douglas County residents would be able to share details about their homes, health and other information with dispatchers and emergency personnel responding to 911 calls under a plan up for approval Wednesday afternoon.

Douglas County commissioners will consider a recommendation to spend $93,000 over the next five years for Smart 911, a service allowing people to enter detailed information on a secure website. The information would be available to dispatchers — in both the county’s Emergency Communications Center and Kansas University’s Communications Center — and police, fire and medical personnel in the field.

Information could include a person’s disability, medical conditions, medications, allergies and other details, plus listings of addresses, personal vehicles and emergency contacts — including photos and descriptions. People also can enter information about their medical history, or if they’ve been a victim of domestic violence.

Providing such information would be voluntary, entered by people using the secure website and updating it at least every six months.

“It enables us to have more information about somebody come up on the 911 screen, if they’ve got something they’d like emergency personnel to know,” said Craig Weinaug, county administrator.

Financing for the plan would come from fees charged on landline and wireless phones in the county.

The commission meeting begins at 4 p.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, 11th and Massachusetts streets.

Also on the agenda:

• Approval of several incentives for construction of a new warehouse for Berry Plastics.

• Approve purchase of property owned Printing Solutions, for $250,000, east of the Douglas County Jail to accommodate the future home for Douglas County Public Works. The purchase price is equivalent to the county’s appraised valuation for property-tax purposes, and is part of a larger plan to acquire property in the area to permit location of a homeless shelter.