Help from 911 dispatchers is now just a text away

Help from first responders is now just a text away.

Southeast Region 911 unveiled their new Text-to-911 service Tuesday.

It allows you to communicate with a 911 dispatcher over text message.

“Texting has prevailed out in the wild, so to speak, a lot of people communicate that way– some people only communicate that way so technology was pushing us to keep up with it,” Mark Murphy, public safety dispatch supervisor said.

Now, if you need help and can’t make a call, all you have to do is push a few buttons.

Here’s how it works.

“In the ‘to’ box on your phone where you would usually type in someone’s phone number or name, type in 911,” Murphy said. “Then type in the conversation you want to have– remember this is a call to 911, we want to have the important things up from– where you are– how we can contact you– and what the problem is.”

Once you hit send, a dispatcher is notified and will text you back.

While this is helpful for those in specific situations, you should still always call if you can.

“We prefer a phone call because we have these things attached to phone calls through phone companies about location and identifying information.”

This new feature could keep those who can’t easily hear or speak or may be in dangerous situations much safer.

“I had a couple of calls in the past where they’re burglaries in progress and there are victims inside at the time and they’ve retreated to bedrooms or closets and we didn’t have text–to–911 then so it wasn’t an option but if somebody had come into the bedroom then speaking would have been an issue– so text could have been a nice thing to have,” Murphy said.

He said other counties in the state that use Text-to-911 don’t see a lot of users. Maybe one or two a month in Kearney and the same amount in a week in Omaha, but even so, he said it’s an important tool to have.

Murphy said,” if we can help one person out there then it’s worth having.”

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The Southeast Region 911 is announcing the availability of Text –to- 911 service for its 16 member counties in southeast Nebraska. At this time, Text-to-911 service is available to the public, through most wireless carriers in the Southeast Region.

Text to 9-1-1 is the next step in accessing emergency services as technology advances. While this is exciting technology that is existing with our daily communications, Text-to- 911 is not meant to take the place of calling 911 using standard voice calls.

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) Text- to- 911 campaign reminds citizens to “Call if you can, Text if you can’t.” For those individuals who are hearing or speech impaired Text-to-911 provides a more convenient method to report an emergency. For anyone who is in a place where they cannot safely talk on the phone, are unable to speak or lack of service won’t allow for a voice call, Text-to-911 can also be an important and life-saving tool.

Calling 911 is still preferred as Text to 9-1-1 has some limitations to include:

• Location acquisition is much more limited and often not available, where voice 911, will typically
provide very good location information as to the caller’s whereabouts.

• There is no guarantee your Text-to-911 text has made it to an emergency dispatch center until you
receive a reply from the emergency operator.

• Information can be obtained more quickly with a voice conversation than via text.

For information regarding Text-to-911 and the need to “Call if you can, Text if you can’t”, please see the Federal Communications Commission website at https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/what-you-need-know-abouttext-911.