Rocco LaPerna (child with simulator)
Dispatcher Mary Ham
State Farm Agent Jason Hoy
New Albany, OH, June 14, 2011 – Thanks to a $2,500 donation by State Farm, the New Albany Police Department and its dispatchers now have a training device to teach kids the proper ways to use 9-1-1.
"I want to thank State Farm for this tool," said New Albany Police Chief Mark Chaney. "As a small operation, we typically only have one dispatcher on duty so utilizing dispatch staff to personally simulate a 9-1-1 call during child training can be a difficult and costly endeavor." Dispatcher Mary Ham was the driving force behind securing the grant from State Farm for the 9-1-1 simulator. "I saw one at a conference I attended, and I thought it would be great not only for Safety Town but for our other school programs, too. We already have 9-1-1 flash cards, and the more we can educate our children to properly react to emergencies the better off we'll all be in a potential life and death situation."
The 9-1-1 simulator teaches children how, when and why to dial 9-1-1 in case of an emergency. Since coming onto the market in the mid 1990s, the units have been purchased by pre-schools, police and fire departments, EMS units, and even adult daycare centers. By utilizing the 9-1-1 simulator, children can practice calling 9-1-1 without tying up a live 9-1-1 line. The simulators will also provide opportunities to pre-record questions tailored to New Albany locations.
"State Farm has been a good neighbor by actively sponsoring these 9-1-1 simulators in many communities and I wanted to make sure our New Albany and Plain Township safety staff had this tool for this year's Safety Town," said local State Farm agent Jason Hoy.
Kim Lust, State Farm Insurance Public Affairs Specialist, (740) 364-5484
State Farm insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. Our 17,800 agents and more than 66,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts – more than 79 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 34 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com® or in Canada statefarm.ca®.
