Text To 911 Service Available For Some
Texting 911 may not be available at all times and to all cell phone users at this point.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – When there is an emergency, we’re all familiar with the procedure to pick up the phone and call 911.
What happens if you are in a situation where calling 911 may put you in further danger, or you can’t speak due to an injury?
Text to 911 is coming online across Iowa, but there could still be problems if you text 911 for help. Your carrier may not have the service yet, or your county may not yet provide the service.
Mahaska County has recently started the text to 911 service and is functional if you use carriers like Verizon or U.S. Cellular. Other carriers may not yet be operational for the service.
The system isn’t perfect yet, and there are some bugs to be worked out of the system statewide yet, but like all new technology, it will improve with time.
“The system from our perspective, it’s integrated into our consoles, to our phone systems and allows us to answer a text that does go through,” said Mahaska County Emergency Manager Jamey Robinson. “It’s new technology. It’ll be great when it’s up and running. It gives people another option when calling 911.”
Robinson said that for dispatchers, talking to a caller is the best option instead of typing back and forth, but for some instances, the text to 911 will offer those with an emergency that needed the option.
The text service is also good for those with a hearing impairment, and relying on TTY service. “Now, a lot of the hearing impaired community uses text messaging,” added Robinson. “We still follow the national standard for hearing impaired,” when using the text to 911 service.
In the not so distant future, sending pictures and video to 911 of an emergency scene is another development being worked on. This would allow dispatchers to then send this valuable information to responders as they make their way to the scene. “They could see the complexity of an incident before they ever get there,” added Robinson.
Things like high definition video could allow responders to see things at a scene, like a hazmat placard, which allow dispatchers and emergency personnel to respond better.
“The technology is evolving. The state’s really pushing us to the next generation 911,” said Robinson.
When a dispatcher receives an emergency text, the dispatcher hears a siren, and it’s treated the same as a voice call. Quick reply messages are preprogrammed in to allow dispatchers to communicate quickly with those in need of assistance. “We’re trying to save seconds,” said Robinson. “That can save lives. That’s what we want to do.”
There is no mandate in place for carriers that don’t offer the text to 911. “Hopefully it is quickly,” said Robinson.
For those who use Facebook, the Mahaska County 911 page isn’t monitored, and messages to that page won’t help you reach a person in the time of a crises. Robinson encourages everyone to call or text 911 for the help you need.
Another potential problem is the deactivated phones that are often given to children to play with.
Officers often respond to 911 calls made from deactivated phones and children who are using them as toys. With the addition of text to 911, those issues could increase. Robinson encourages parents to remove the batteries from those deactivated cell phones to help prevent those problems in the future.
