Toombs 911 Dispatch Center Rolls Out New Program

Courtesy of the Toombs County Sheriff’s Office

Three words that could save a life – that is the program the Toombs County Sheriff’s Office and 911 Dispatch is rolling out to help enable the public to provide their locations faster and more efficiently in event of an emergency.

According to the Toombs County Sheriff’s Office, the what3words app has divided the world into a grid of 10 ft. by 10 ft. squares, and given each square a unique address utilizing three words. For example, on the app, /// conversations.trams.bank refers to the Toombs County Sheriff’s Office.

After seeing the success of the system by emergency control teams around the world, the Toombs County 911 Dispatch and Sheriff’s Office has now adopted the technology themselves. The app can be downloaded through the app store for iOS and Android devices, or may be activated through the online website. In an emergency where a location is difficult to describe, 911 callers may use the address given through the what3words app, or operators from the Toombs 911 Dispatch can send a link to a mobile version of the site to the caller’s phone, allowing them to receive the 3 words to give to the Dispatch center.

According to Captain Jordan Kight, this technology is extremely helpful to avoid wasting precious time and resources by locating the person in need, and will be especially effective to those in areas with no addresses or memorable landmark, such as state parks or wooded areas. “We are always looking for better ways to serve our community and make it a safer place,” he said. “This technology will help us do just that. Every second counts in an emergency incident that could be the difference between life and death. Utilizing this technology falls in line with the Toombs County Sheriff’s Office’s mission.”

The app’s CEO Chris Sheldrick also commented on the implementation of the technology in Toombs County. “Every day, people all around the world struggle to communicate their location to emergency response teams. This leads to crucial minutes and sometimes hours lost when trying to save lives,” he remarked. “It’s exciting to hear that the Toombs County Sheriff’s Office/911 Dispatch Center is starting to use what3words and we are looking forward to working with them as they embrace new technologies, like ours, to help cut response times and in some cases, save lives.”

For more information on the what3words app, please visit https://what-3words.com, or call the Toombs County Sheriff’s Office’s nonemergency line at (912) 526-6778.