HAILEY, Idaho — The Blaine County Sherriff’s Office has recently rolled out a vulnerable population registry designed to give first responders more information before they arrive to the scene of an incident.
A vulnerable person could be anyone who suffers from dementia, Alzheimer's, mental illness, autism, or other special needs. The sheriff's office says they often deal with calls relating to this population.
“Someone falls into this category if they are scared of police,” said Blaine County Sheriff’s Office Chief deputy Will Fruehling. “If they are scared of firefighters, if they are scared of paramedics, that is all stuff that we would like to know.”
When officers get these calls, they are often unaware of some of the vital information surrounding the person they are trying to help. That is why they have decided to introduce a new tool, which they are calling the Vulnerable Population Registry.
“Increase information for first responders, that is the whole goal of it,” said Fruehling.
Any family member or friend of a vulnerable person in Blaine County can now go to the Sheriff’s Office's website and register the vulnerable person with the 911 Communications Record Management System.
There they will begin filling out details various details, some of which are optional. Details include the diagnosis, preferred language and primary contact information. The information is all confidential, but it does get shared with the officers when they get called to a scene where they are dealing with a person that falls into the vulnerable category.
The registry is voluntary and was rolled out on Tuesday. So far, three people have been registered.
“The whole goal of it is to make our community safer for all of our citizens,” Fruehling said.
