Dare County adds Smart911 to OBX Alerts; urges residents and visitors to create profiles

Dare County announced that Smart911, a nationwide service from Rave Mobile Safety, has been added to the county’s OBX Alerts notification system and encouraged people who live in, own property in or visit the Outer Banks to create free safety profiles.

The county said the profiles let residents and visitors share key details — medical conditions, medications, address specifics, emergency contacts and access instructions — with 911 dispatchers and, with users’ permission, with public safety officials. "Dare County is offering a free secure service," the speaker said, describing the county's move to integrate Smart911 with OBX Alerts.

Officials said the service speeds information transfer during emergencies. According to the announcement, "When you call 911 from a phone linked to your profile, your information instantly appears on the dispatcher screen," which the county said can save critical time when seconds matter.

The county listed items people can add to their profiles: medical conditions, medications, home access instructions, emergency contacts, notes about children or people with limited mobility, pet information and photos, and words to help responders calm or avoid triggering those in crisis. The announcement emphasized that profiles are optional and that users control whether and how their information is shared with public safety personnel.

Although Smart911 is a nationwide service, the speaker noted it is not available in every community; a profile created at obxalerts.com will be visible to any 911 center that supports Smart911. The county reiterated that creating a profile is free and said information is kept private and shared only with 911 centers and public safety officials according to users’ selected preferences.

Dare County closed the announcement by urging people to set up a profile before an emergency occurs so responders have the best possible information when responding.