COVID-19 Information - From Police and Fire

The City of Union Police and Fire Department is closely monitoring the current situation regarding COVID-19. With this in mind we would like to remind all residents of when the use of 911 is appropriate.

Generally speaking, people are aware that they should call 911 in an emergency, but they are less aware of the circumstances in which they should not call 911. The result is that many requests to 911 do not involve true emergencies, which overloads the 911 system with non-emergency calls. General cold and flu-like symptoms are typically not circumstances that would require a 911 call and response.
Individuals with concerns or flu-like symptoms should call their health care provider first with questions. The Ohio Department of Health has a COVID-19 hotline 1-833-4ASK-ODH.

The Union Police Department may consider taking non-priority police reports over the phone instead of responding directly to your location to reduce potential exposure to you and our officers. If you need a police officer, please continue to call our dispatch center at (937)836-2678 or 911. A police supervisor will determine if a response is necessary or if a “phone report” will suffice. If a “phone report” is determined to be the case, you will receive a phone call from one of our police officers as soon as possible to take your report.

By utilizing 911 for only true emergencies such as fires, motor vehicle accidents, life threatening injuries or medical emergencies such as, but not limited to, a heart attack, severe respiratory symptoms or allergic reactions will reduce the potential exposures to first responders, hospital based healthcare workers, and the general public. Bottom line, utilizing the 911 system for only true emergency’s is the best practice at this time.

Factual based information and updates regarding COVID-19 can be found at https://governor.ohio.gov/ or the Center for Disease Control (CDC) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html and the World Health Organization (WHO) https://www.who.int/emergen…/diseases/novel¬coronavirus-2019 websites.

Michael J. Blackwell
Police & Fire Chief