POCATELLO — When a 911 call comes in, local police dispatcher Moe Osterhout knows that seconds matter — and so does critical information surrounding rapidly evolving emergencies.
Osterhout, an emergency communications officer with nearly eight years at the Pocatello Police Department’s dispatch center, has spearheaded a new program called the “Know Me” file, a voluntary registry designed to help first responders better serve vulnerable populations in the Gate City.
The Pocatello Police Department launched the initiative Tuesday in partnership with fire and EMS. It allows caregivers, or individuals themselves, to submit detailed information about medical conditions, communication challenges, behavioral triggers, medical equipment needs and more.
The voluntary and confidential Know Me program can support individuals who may benefit from specialized care — including adults, teens and children with developmental disabilities, those with post-traumatic stress disorder or persons experiencing a mental health episode. The program can also provide supplemental information for residents of care facilities living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Applicants can submit a file through an online enrollment form in about 20 minutes, detailing the unique needs of at-risk individuals in the community. That information is then tied to the person’s name in the city’s database, which is shared with the Chubbuck Police Department and other Bannock County agencies.
“If there’s something you want us to know about you, we want to know that long before there’s an emergency,” Osterhout said. “Yes, it’s targeted toward vulnerable populations, because that’s likely going to be the majority of people who use the Know Me file. But you don’t have to be a vulnerable person to submit something.”
Osterhout said the idea had been on her mind for years, but she began pushing it forward about a year ago. The motivation is deeply personal.
“I have two vulnerable adult brothers,” she said. “One with the mentality of a 3- to 4-year-old that requires significant care, and my other brother, still a vulnerable adult, but has a normal day-to-day life.”
Both brothers contracted spinal meningitis as infants and now live with grand mal seizures and resulting disabilities from lack of oxygen and repeated seizures. On the surface, they appear to be like any other adult.
“They look like everyday, average adults,” Osterhout said. “That’s what’s scary about it — if you catch them on the street, they look like a grown, 30-year-old man. But until you speak with them, you wouldn’t know that there are difficulties.”
Her brothers live in Ada County, one of only two Idaho counties with a vulnerable person registry. Seeing that system in action, combined with her dispatch experience and her connection to her siblings, convinced Osterhout that Pocatello needed something similar.
She worked with Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei to officially incorporate the Know Me file. Schei said the initiative exemplifies the department’s philosophy of “decentralized command,” in which those on the front lines are empowered to identify problems and design solutions.
“When the boots on the ground see a better way to do things, and they bring forth an idea, I’ll often put them in charge of it,” Schei said. “I’ll let them develop the program, write the policy, set up the training, and figure out a way to implement it. My job was just to clear the path.”
Osterhout said she initially assumed the project would focus on how police and fire departments respond to vulnerable people, but early research shifted her approach. She examined existing programs in Ada County, Blaine County and Baltimore, then researched populations such as dementia patients, autistic individuals and people with traumatic brain injuries.
“What challenges do they face?” Osterhout said. “What challenges would they face that would impact an emergency?”
Those answers became the basis for the Know Me questionnaire, which is intentionally detailed.
“I want people to really pack the record,” she said. “The more information you can give me, the better.”
Information submitted through the Know Me website is entered into an individual’s name record in Spillman Flex, a public safety software platform used by police departments, sheriff’s offices, dispatch centers and correctional facilities. When dispatchers receive a call and can identify the person involved, they can immediately see whether a Know Me file exists and relay that information to first responders.
Schei called the Know Me file “mission critical” in light of state budget cuts to the Department of Health and Welfare that took effect Dec. 1, which he said are already driving up calls for service involving mental health crises and people with disabilities.
“When you see those cuts to that service, that’s why this tool is, to me, mission critical,” Schei said. “It’s going to be another tool that we can use when we’re responding, because we’ve simply seen our calls for service go up for those types of calls.”
Schei stressed the program is not a guarantee or a catch-all, but that the Know Me file can help departments respond more effectively and efficiently. Dispatchers are often juggling multiple emergencies and may not always have time to sift through long address histories, particularly at high-traffic locations such as large apartment complexes. Name-based identification remains the most reliable way to connect a caller or subject to a Know Me file.
Osterhout developed an annual internal training on the Know Me file for dispatchers and officers to keep them current on procedures and updates. The department has issued a formal policy and is creating information cards with QR codes linking to the enrollment website for officers to distribute in the community.
Receiving critical information can have a profound impact on how first responders approach a scene. In some cases, a nonverbal person with a seizure disorder who becomes unresponsive after an episode might be mistaken for uncooperative or intoxicated without context.
“If we’re responding to somebody who’s had a seizure in the grocery store, and we know who they are, then we can tell everyone responding that they do have a seizure condition and when they’re postictal,” she said.
In fires, the information can be lifesaving. Kim Stouse, public information officer for the Pocatello Fire Department, views the initiative as a well-rounded program that can greatly assist police, fire and EMS first responders.
“When it comes to emergencies, oftentimes people are already stressed and have anxiety,” Stouse said. “The house is on fire. Let’s say they have an autistic child and loud noises scare them and they tend to hide in a closet. We would know as we’re searching to go look for their bedroom, to look in the closet to see if they’re still there.”
The file can also capture critical details about durable medical equipment and medications — such as oxygen tanks that could potentially explode in a fire — or the location of backup EpiPens for severe allergies.
Looking ahead, Osterhout and the department hope to host a sensory-friendly community event in warmer weather, where families can meet police officers, firefighters, paramedics and dispatchers, see emergency vehicles up close and learn about the Know Me file.
For Osterhout, and for many in the community who know someone with a developmental disability or mental health challenge, the Know Me file will serve as a critical resource — helping first responders and dispatchers truly know the people they serve so they can better help them when it matters most.
“Everybody’s got skin in the game,” Schei said. “You either have someone you go to church with, or you’re close family friends with, or you’re related to, or you’re associated with a neighbor — and this initiative could help them out.”
For more information on the Know Me file and how to enroll, visit pocatello.gov/959/Vulnerable-Person-KNOW-ME-FILE.
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