By Theresa Riniker
Telegraph Herald

DUBUQUE, Iowa — When the call came into the East Dubuque Fire Department, East Dubuque Fire Chief Joe Heim said volunteers were at the station for a drill. "And it's a good thing," he said, "or we would not have been able to respond as we did."

The call was from a medical alert system, a call that county officials say is supposed to go to the Jo Daviess County Sheriff's dispatch office. If fire department volunteers had not been at the fire station when the call came in, said Heim, assistance would have been delayed until the call had been re-routed to an appropriate responder.

When a medical alert system is activated, a call either goes to an answering service or the system begins dialing a series of phone numbers supplied by the customer. If an answering service receives the call, the person responding to the call determines what type of assistance is needed. If an automated system is activated, often the first calls go to family members or neighbors, then to an emergency responder.

Jo Daviess County 911 Coordinator Mike Moser said that all medical alert system calls (after attempts to reach family/friends have gone unanswered) should be coming to the Jo Daviess County Sheriff's Department dispatch center. "The dispatch office is staffed 24-7," said Moser. "Having emergency calls go directly to the dispatch office cuts response time, maybe by a minute, but a minute can be all that is needed"¦"

Moser encourages everyone using an alert system to test the system to make sure it has been set up properly and to understand the system's limitations, including the fact that loss of power, phone outage, etc., disable the system.

If you have questions about a specific system, call Moser at 815-777-2141. Remember, the new dialing system in Jo Daviess County requires that 1 and the area code must be dialed for all calls to be completed.

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