Besides reporting an accident there are also certain things about 911 system you and your family should be aware of:

• In hostage situation if you're making a critical decision to call 911 remember that it's enough to simply stay on the line without saying anything in order to get EMS on its way.
• If you accidentally dialed 911 without any emergency don't hang up right away. Explain a dispatcher that it was an accident giving your name and address.
• You can come across a 911 department using “computer aided dispatching” which is basically a script with a series of questions dispatcher is going through providing a proper respond for your emergency. Do your best to answer all the questions you're asked even if they seem to be unrelated to your situation. Meanwhile, do not hesitate to provide dispatcher with additional information if you're feeling it is necessary. Do not try to interrupt a 911 agent while doing so.
• Be aware that if 911 system in your area is overload your call will probably be transferred to another center. So an operator you taking to will not be necessarily familiar with you area and may not be able to follow your directions as easy as you expect.
• Do not hesitate to contact 911 with an additional information. However, calling back without any particular reason will only cause an additional stress on both sides. So be patient waiting for a help to come for nearest police or hospital unit may still be more then twenty minutes away.
• If you're witnessing an emergency along with other people it's not a good idea to assume that someone else will call 911 instead of you. Remember that in such cases it is better to be safe than sorry.
• It is a good idea to put lights on your address so it could be visible outside during night time. So first responders can easily locate you if necessarily.
• Make sure that all phones of your family members are GPS capable. That way help will come even in if there is no possible way of describing the location you're in.
• If you have an access to regular phone tries to use it instead of your cell phone because not all cellular phones are enhanced in all 911 systems. Keep in mind that 911 can be dialed on most pay phones for free.
• Always remember that 911 numbers is for urgent situations only. If your phone or electric line is off it's obviously not an accurate reason to call 911 unless someone’s life or property is in danger. If someone next to you is experiencing medical problems which are not life-threatening consider a possibility of driving such person to nearest hospital yourself first instead of calling 911 right away. In case you need to file a police report regarding something happened a while ago you should use non-emergency number.
• 911 number is only valued in USA and Canada. So if your vacationing make sure you know an emergency number of a country you're visiting.