Effort promotes effective use of 9-1-1 to save seconds and lives

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- In support of National 9-1-1 Education Month in April, Intergraph(R) will make available to public safety agencies nationwide an industry association-approved 9-1-1 Education Toolkit to promote awareness about the most effective use of 9-1-1 emergency services to aid 9-1-1 call centers, first responders and the public.

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According to the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), nearly 240 million 9-1-1 calls are made in the U.S. each year. A large number of these calls do not actually constitute an emergency or have been made erroneously by cell phones and autodialing devices.

Educating citizens about how to most effectively use 9-1-1 can protect and save lives by reducing the number of non-emergency calls and decrease emergency response times for actual emergencies.

The 9-1-1 Education toolkit created by Intergraph in cooperation with industry associations includes tips and other information about the correct use of the 9-1-1 that public safety agencies can provide free of charge to their constituents to help promote community awareness. It features an at-a-glance citizens' guide for requesting emergency services as well as a design template for a refrigerator magnet with quick reference tips for calling 9-1-1.

The 9-1-1 Education Toolkit is a collaboration between Intergraph, the world leader in public safety and security incident management and reporting solutions, and leading public safety industry associations: 9-1-1 Industry Alliance (9IA); the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International; the E9-1-1 Institute; the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED); the National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators (NASNA) and NENA.

"Our nation's 9-1-1 telecommunicators strive to offer swift assistance to 9-1-1 callers and an educated public improves outcomes for all parties involved," said George S. Rice Jr., executive director, APCO International. "The 9-1-1 toolkit provides a valuable means for educating the public and demonstrating to them how truly effective 9-1-1 can be when it is used properly."

"As the world leader in public safety and security incident management and reporting solutions, Intergraph recognizes the importance of educating every U.S. citizen about how to effectively use 9-1-1," said John K. Graham, president, Intergraph Security, Government & Infrastructure. "Intergraph's technologies assist in facilitating effective and efficient emergency response, but the American public can also take a role in advancing response. By educating the public about how to maximize calls to 9-1-1, communicators, responding agencies and the public can work together more effectively to save lives."

One in 12 people in the world are protected by Intergraph public safety and security solutions. Intergraph solutions protect among the largest and complex cities and government sites in the world from Melbourne to Mumbai and the U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal to Rio de Janeiro.

For more information on Intergraph Public Safety and to download the free toolkit visit www.intergraph.com/publicsafety.

About Intergraph

Intergraph is the leading global provider of engineering and geospatial software that enables customers to visualize complex data. Businesses and governments in more than 60 countries rely on Intergraph's industry-specific software to organize vast amounts of data into understandable visual representations and actionable intelligence. Intergraph's software and services empower customers to build and operate more efficient plants and ships, create intelligent maps, and protect critical infrastructure and millions of people around the world.

Intergraph operates through two divisions: Process, Power & Marine (PP&M) and Security, Government & Infrastructure (SG&I). Intergraph PP&M provides enterprise engineering software for the design, construction and operation of plants, ships and offshore facilities. Intergraph SG&I provides geospatially-powered solutions to the defense and intelligence, public safety and security, government, transportation, photogrammetry, utilities, and communications industries. For more information, visit www.intergraph.com.

Intergraph and the Intergraph logo are registered trademarks of Intergraph Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

Web site: http://www.intergraph.com/