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<section article="gps" article_name="Public Safety" number="1-304" title_number="1" title_name="Definitions; General Provisions" subtitle_number="3" subtitle_name="9-1-1 Emergency Telephone System">
  <level label="a">
    <text>Each county shall have in operation an enhanced 9–1–1 system.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>If implementation is preceded by cooperative planning, the enhanced 9–1–1 system required under subsection (a) of this section may operate as part of a multicounty system.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Services available through a 9–1–1 system shall include police, fire fighting, and emergency ambulance services.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Other emergency and civil defense services may be incorporated into the 9–1–1 system at the discretion of the county or counties served by the 9–1–1 system.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <level label="1">
      <text>The digits 9–1–1 are the primary emergency telephone number in the 9–1–1 system.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>A public safety agency whose services are available through the 9–1–1 system:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>may maintain a separate secondary backup telephone number for emergency calls; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>shall maintain a separate telephone number for nonemergency calls.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>Educational information that relates to emergency services made available by the State or a county:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>shall designate the number 9–1–1 as the primary emergency telephone number;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>may include a separate secondary backup telephone number for emergency calls; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>shall include information on the requirements of § 1–314 of this subtitle.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="f">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Each public safety answering point shall notify the public safety agencies in a county 9–1–1 system of requests for emergency services in the county.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Written guidelines shall be developed to govern the referral of requests for emergency services to the appropriate public safety agency.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>State, county, and local public safety agencies with concurrent jurisdiction shall have written agreements to ensure a clear understanding of which specific requests for emergency services will be referred to which public safety agency.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="g">
    <text>Counties, other units of local government, public safety agencies, and public safety answering points may enter into cooperative agreements for the allocation of maintenance, operational, and capital costs attributable to the 9–1–1 system.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="h">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Each public safety answering point shall develop a written policy on the procedures to be followed by the public safety answering point when a call is received that involves an individual suffering an active mental health crisis.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The written policy developed under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall include:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>the procedures to triage a call involving an individual suffering an active mental health crisis;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>the resources that are available for dispatch;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>the procedures for making a dispatch decision; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>training for applicable staff on implementing the procedures.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
