HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Starting Thursday, the Hutchinson-Reno County Emergency Communications Center, in conjunction with the Kansas 911 Coordinating Council, announced the availability of Text-to-911 during an emergency. Text-to-911 service will be available for those individuals who cannot safely make a voice call to 911 in an emergency. This will be a valuable service to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

Testing for Text-to-911 has been completed in Hutchinson-Reno County and is available with plans from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, & Verizon Wireless. Text-to-911 may not be available outside of Hutchinson-Reno County. If a text is made to 911 where that service is not available, a message will be sent back to the phone advising the customer to make a voice call.

Text-to-911 is appropriate for those who are deaf, hard-of -hearing, or have a speech disability. This feature works well for a caller who is unable to speak due to a medical or other condition, an emergency situation that would put the caller in danger if making a voice call, which could include an abduction, domestic violence or active shooter situation.

When texting to 911, you would need to follow these guidelines: Provide your exact address or location, explain the type of emergency or help that is being requested, be prepared to answer any questions that the 911 dispatcher texts back. Use plain language; do not use abbreviations, symbols, emoticons, or photos. Messages should be brief and concise

Texting 911 can be done by typing “911” in the field for a phone number. No other numbers need to be used. Texting should be done through your wireless phones text messaging service and not from a third party texting application. Text-to-911 does require an active telephone service plan with data or it will not work.

Remember, the best way to contact 911 is by making a voice call. Please only utilize this service in emergency circumstances where a voice call is not possible or safe.

Remember, call if you can, text if you can’t.