Smith County Emergency Communications District is pleased to announce that Text-to-911 is now available in Smith County. Wireless customers can now send a text of up to 140 characters to 911 in an Emergency. Text-to-911 should only be used in an Emergency situation, when placing a call is not possible or safe. Some examples would be, if the caller is deaf, hard-of-hearing, speech impaired, or when speaking out loud would put the caller in danger. This can be done by opening up your text and simply sending the text to “911”.
If you have an Emergency and are unable to make a call, remember these steps:
*Don’t text and drive first and foremost.
*In the first text message, send the location and type of Emergency.
*Text in simple words. Send a short text message, in English, without abbreviations or slang.
*Translation can be done, but may take more time to exchange information.
*Be prepared to answer questions and follow instructions from the 911 operator.
Don’t abuse 911. Text-to-911 service is ONLY for Emergencies.
*It is a crime to text or call 911 with a false report. Prank texters can and will be located.
The Text-to-911 may have some challenges:
*A text or data plan is required to place a Text-to-911.
*As with all text messages, messages to 911 may take longer to receive, may get out of order, or may not be received at all.
*If within 30 seconds you do not receive a text response, try to contact 911 another way.
*Photos and Videos cannot be sent to 911 at this time.
*Text-to-911 cannot include more than 1 recipient. Do not send your Emergency text to anyone other than 911.
VOICE CALLS TO 911 ARE STILL THE BEST AND FASTEST WAY TO CONNECT TO 911.
Remember, Text-to-911 service is not available everywhere in Tennessee and the United States.
One last thing to always remember: “Call if you can, Text if you can’t”
In the last few weeks, this has been fully tested with all of the Wireless Carriers in our area. DO NOT TEXT 911 to “try it out” or “see if it works”. We are simply letting all those we serve know that this service is now available to you, to use in one of those situations listed above.
