It takes about a quarter-hour to prepare, but could provide residents many years of protection. It’s free but may end up saving residents a lot of money, depending on circumstances.

What is it? It’s called Smart911, and it’s a program that residents create for their household that includes any information they would like emergency responders to be aware of in the event of an emergency, a recent Mining Journal story detailed. Once a profile is created, that information will be displayed to central dispatch if a 911 call is made, explained Marquette County Central Dispatch Manager Gary Johnson, in the Journal report.

“It allows them to put medical histories, medications, how many people live in the house, they can put in floor plans, emergency contact numbers, how many pets they have, a whole lot of information, they can include pictures if they want, include the vehicles that they drive,” Johnson said in the story. “For children they can list themselves as emergency contacts for their children or someone they are caring for, if there’s any special needs, wheelchair-bound people, those types of things. All that information then would instantly display to the dispatchers when someone calls 911 from a registered phone number.”

Although it’s new to this area, tens of millions of people nationwide have already signed up for Smar911. Perhaps you should, too. To make a profile visit smart911.com or download the Smart911 app from any app store for free.