Jack Huang The City of Los Angeles now has the Text-To-911 emergency contact available for the public and deaf and hard of hearing in Los Angeles, California.
This means anyone can text to 911 in an emergency as long as they are in the city of Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) urges the public, “To call if they can — text if they can’t.”“Text-to-911 is an exciting technological step forward for the LAFD and the people of Los Angeles,” said LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas. “It provides the public with a new way to activate the 911 system if making a voice call is not an option and it provides a valuable service to deaf and hearing impaired individuals.”
To guarantee emergency response, follow these simple rules:
NO PHOTOS OR VIDEOS. The 911 center will not receive them.
NO EMOJIs. They will not be readable by the 911 center.
NO acronyms or short abbreviations such as LOL, OMG, or SMH. All of them will not be accepted. Be clear and to the point.
Have your phone ACCEPT LOCATION ACCURACY. This is for your phone service to recognize that you are in the city of Los Angeles and will connect you with the 911 center.
If your phone cannot detect where you are, the Text-To-911 won’t work and will show the “FAILURE TO SEND” message.
If your phone is set to Roaming, the Text-To-911 will NOT work. It must have an accurate location.
At the moment, ALL TEXTS MUST BE IN ENGLISH. Other language services are still in development.
That’s all for the rules!
The Text-To-911 technology was implemented specifically with deaf and hard of hearing concerns, while at the same time being very beneficial for dangerous situations where voice calling may not be an option.
Talk about a potential life-saving development all around!
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