(BENTON, KY, AUGUST 1) Marshall County 911 would like to formally recognize two dispatchers who truly went above and beyond the call to assist a person in distress.
On July 21, 2019 at approximately 09:00 AM dispatchers Maranda Hanson and Philip Madison received three 911 hang-up calls from the same telephone number. They attempted to call the number back, but no one answered. Realizing this could be an emergency situation they decided to use other resources to reach the caller.
RapidSOS is a new tool to Marshall County 911. It allows dispatchers to accurately locate someone who has dialed 911 much quicker than the phone system updates locations. They were unable to get a location using Rapid SOS, but Maranda and Philip continued to use other resources to make contact with the caller.
Marshall County is one of the few counties in our area that is able to send and receive text messages through a program called Texty. They were able to contact the caller through text
messages and learned they did not have reception on their cell phone and had a medical emergency in a remote location in the Land Between the Lakes National Park.
Knowing that it was important to get the caller help as soon as possible and keep them calm they gathered as much information about the caller’s location and condition as they could. They contacted the county the caller was in and relayed the location so help would quickly be on the way. They remained in contact with the caller giving them emergency medical instructions through text messages until responders arrived on scene.
Marshall County 911 is committed to continuing to bring new technology and training to our dispatchers in order to better serve the citizens of our community when they need it most.