County seeks public help in maintaining E-911 signs

Contributed / Metro Newspaper Service

By Dispatch staff report

April 19, 2023 at 10:57 AM

BRAINERD — Crow Wing County is requesting assistance to ensure the E-911 system continues to work effectively by allowing emergency responders to quickly locate those in need of emergency assistance.

Residents with a blue 911 sign on their property should keep the sign visible at all times by removing vegetation, debris, snow and other intrusions. If the sign is damaged or removed contact the Crow Wing County Land Services Department at 218-824-1010 to get a new sign installed.

If the property is located within the cities of Baxter, Brainerd, Breezy Point, Crosby, Crosslake, Jenkins, or Pequot Lakes, contact city offices directly. Under the County Land Use ordinance, E-911 address signs or road signs cannot not be altered, defaced, removed, or moved.

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Crow Wing County government serves more than 65,000 full time residents in an area covering nearly 1,000 square miles. There are over 80,000 parcels with over 27,000 E-911 address signs. In 2022, Land Services assigned over 600 new addresses throughout the county.

“Crow Wing County considers safety a priority,” Maggie Young, Crow Wing County Geographic Information System specialist, said in a news release. “Proper maintenance of E-911 signs helps to ensure optimal response times for emergency services to locate residents and guests quickly and efficiently.”

Crow Wing County originally implemented the enhanced E-911 address system between 1998 and 2001. In 2022 data was updated to comply with the statewide standard for Next Generation 911. Next Generation 911 is a nationwide, standards-based, emergency communications infrastructure enabling voice and multimedia communications between a 911 caller, the 911 center and on to the responders in the field. Residents in need of emergency assistance will be able to transmit photos, videos and other forms of broadband data and applications

to 911 professionals, in addition to making a traditional call or sending a text message. A deployed nationwide Next Generation 911 system will also aid in more effective and efficient response in the event of a major disaster.

For more information visit www.NG911NOW.org .

The physical E-911 address and sign is still an important feature of the process, the county reported. The system also selectively routes public safety calls through a specialized database and Geographic Information System map. The routing of this information allows emergency response teams such as law enforcement, fire, ambulance and other emergency providers the ability to save valuable time to find you when that can mean life or death.

Contact the Land Services Office at 218-824-1010 or landservices@crowwing.us for more information. Crow Wing County information and resources can be found at www.crowwing.us .

By Dispatch staff report

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of "staff." Often, the "staff" byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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