Egremont — The town’s Council on Aging (COA) recently welcomed Tara Jones-Nutting from the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office to its monthly luncheon series at the Egremont Barn. The COA holds monthly luncheons on the first Wednesday of every month at 12 p.m.
Jones-Nutting, a victim assistance advocate for the District Attorney’s Office, spoke to seniors about making emergency phone calls and using 911 during its luncheon event on February 7.
As Jones-Nutting explained at the event, there is a lot more to calling in an emergency than just dialing 911 on a phone. “One of the most important things when you are making emergency phone calls is to answer all of the dispatcher’s questions,” Jones-Nutting said in an interview with The Berkshire Edge. “A lot of times we encounter callers who are panicked and they don’t want to wait long enough to listen to dispatchers’ questions. Our dispatchers in Berkshire County are all excellent and have all been trained in giving pre-arrival instructions. But getting the proper information from the people who call in an emergency is the biggest challenge.”
Jones-Nutting was previously a 911 dispatcher for seven years before working at the Sheriff’s Office. She has also worked in emergency services for 30 years working as a volunteer firefighter and an EMT.
During her talk, she covered the “text to 911” cell phone feature available in the state. “It’s helpful, but it’s not great,” Jones-Nutting said, emphasizing that 911 calls are still the best way to get a response for an emergency. “When a text 911 call pops up [on the dispatcher’s] screen, it’s not going to give us an exact location. The text-to-911 feature is useful if you can’t make a phone call, so it’s just another tool in your toolbox that you can access.”
Jones-Nutting also spoke about the state’s 911 phone call feature where the caller can press numbers on the phone’s keypad to respond to questions and request certain emergency services.
The monthly luncheons are one of many programs offered by Egremont’s COA. According to the town’s website, the COA also offers coffee hours every second and fourth Thursday of every month at 9 a.m. at Mom’s Country Cafe at 65 Main Street in South Egremont, along with senior exercise programs at Simon’s Rock and transportation services for seniors.
Mount Washington COA leader Cory Hines, who also collaborates with Egremont’s COA on programs, said that it is important that all towns have programs to support their senior population. “Berkshire County has one of the largest numbers of older people in our population,” Hines said. “There is also an increase of the ‘Baby Boomer’ generation getting older. It’s important for people to normalize the aging experience. While there may be challenges when it comes to aging, there are many gifts to it as well.”
“These COA events are very pleasant ways for seniors to socialize, meet new people, and meet old friends,” Egremont resident Richard Burdsall said. “The purpose of the COA is to keep people in their later years stimulated, which is very important as you get older.”
For more information on the Egremont Council on Aging, visit its website.
