“911, what’s your emergency?”

It is a phrase we have all heard on TV or in real life.

But here is what most people do not realize. When you call, dispatch does not automatically know where you are. Unless you are on a landline or a system with enhanced location services, the operator might only get a rough estimate or nothing at all. That is why situational awareness is not just a security buzzword. In an emergency, it is survival.

Being able to quickly say where you are, whether that is cross streets, mile markers, landmarks, or the name of the business you are inside, can shave minutes off the time it takes for help to actually reach you. Minutes that matter when you are bleeding, when someone is not breathing, or when a threat is unfolding.

The next time you go somewhere, take a moment to register where you are. Because in an emergency, the first detail that matters is not what happened. It is your location! When minutes count and seconds decide outcomes, that is the detail that brings help to your side.

Keep learning. Keep training. Stay safe.