Cambridge Residents Can Now Create a Free Emergency Health Profile to Share Critical Health Data in an Emergency

The City of Cambridge today announced that Cambridge residents now have the ability to create a free Emergency Health Profile that can accelerate the response of first responders in the event of an emergency. With a registered profile, the Cambridge Emergency Communications Department (911 Emergency Call Center) will be able to provide an individual’s vital medical and profile information to first responders as its automatically sent to Dispatchers if there is an emergency.

To ensure data privacy, the opt-in medical information associated with an individual’s phone number is only made available to first responders when a 911 call is placed from the registered user’s phone number.  Emergency technology company RapidSOS teamed up with The American Heart Association, The American Red Cross, and Direct Relief to launch this initiative in an effort to get first responders vital information in an emergency, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

People can create their free Emergency Health Profile at emergencyprofile.org and enter pertinent medical and profile information, such as:

• Name, date of birth and address
• Pre-existing conditions
• Allergies
• Medical notes
• COVID-19 symptoms
• Emergency contacts

“Being able to receive a caller’s opt-in health information will better inform our staff when there is an emergency response,” said Christina Giacobbe, Director of Emergency Communications and 911, City of Cambridge. “I strongly encourage our community to create a free Emergency Health Profile today, as the sharing of this critical data with 911 will help protect lives.”

“Our 911 department and first responders do incredible work every day to keep our community and first responders safe,” said Cambridge Police Commissioner Branville Bard, Jr. “With this additional vital information, our first responders will have valuable insights and be able to respond to emergencies more quickly and with the most appropriate care.”

The nation’s 911 infrastructure was built in the 1960s for landline phones, requiring individuals to verbally share critical data to responders in an emergency. To address this challenge, RapidSOS’ emergency response data platform links real-time health and location information from connected devices, apps, and profiles with 911, providing context beyond what the caller in crisis is able to convey. This data has helped Cambridge 911 Dispatchers expedite the response and provide first responders with life-saving information.

Cambridge 911 has been an active RapidSOS user for over six years. Their call-takers use the RapidSOS Portal along with the 911 System Equipment to access accurate location and additional life-saving information when processing 911 calls.

To learn more and create a free Emergency Profile, visit www.emergencyprofile.org.