SAFETY: With the closure of the emergency room at Bradford Regional Medical Center, calling 9-1-1 has become even more important.

The Daily Yonder recently published a story about preparing to call for emergency services. It emphasized staying on the line and being ready to tell the dispatcher who you are, where you are calling from and the nature of the emergency. Your answers guide the dispatcher through a series of if/then decisions.

Practice situational awareness. You are the eyes and ears of the 911 operator, who has to decide what resources to send and how urgently they are needed. If it is a car crash, how many vehicles are involved? Can you see if anyone appears trapped? Is anything blocking the road?

Now imagine you are calling for help for a neighbor. What is the precise location? Approximate age, gender and weight of the patient? Are they conscious? Able to talk? Oriented or confused? Ill or injured? What is the chief reason for calling an ambulance? Were they recently hospitalized? Is someone available to stand at the end of a long driveway to direct the ambulance? Will additional manpower be needed to carry the patient down a narrow flight of steps?

In some situations, it is safer to call 911 than to look for someone who can help lift, move or drive. A driver cannot perform CPR while operating a vehicle.

Conditions that may warrant an ambulance call include heavy bleeding, excessive vomiting, shortness of breath and the F.A.S.T. signs of stroke.

Remember to cooperate. Dispatchers and responders are trying to help in a system under strain.