911 and Waiting for the Ambulance

Please have the following information available when calling 911 for emergency assistance.

• The nature of the problem and exactly what happened
• The address of the emergency
• The phone number you are calling from*

*Please stay on the line until the call taker has given you proper instructions.

While waiting for the ambulance to arrive:

• Keep the patient awake, warm and calm.
• Let the patient know that help is on the way.
• Turn the house lights on and make sure the address is clearly visible from the street.
• Send someone to flag down the ambulance if the house is difficult to locate or the address is not visible from the middle of the street.
• Gather the patient's insurance card.
• Write down information about patient's medical history, names of doctors, medications and allergies, if possible.
• Clear a route to the patient for a stretcher.