Text to 9-1-1 is now available in El Paso County

The El Paso County 9-1-1 system has added Text to 9-1-1 as another way to request emergency assistance.

In a recent Facebook post, The El Paso Fire Department shared the news of a new system that gives wireless customers the ability to send a text message to reach 9-1-1 emergency call takers from their mobile phone or device.

According to the Facebook post, text to 9-1-1 should only be used in an emergency when placing a voice call is not possible: For instance, if the caller is deaf, hard-of-hearing, speech impaired, or when speaking out loud would put the caller in danger.

Although the new system may be more convenient for some people, voice calls to 9-1-1 are still the best and fastest way to contact 9-1-1.

Here’s how to text 9-1-1:

Enter the numbers “911” in the “To” field; Type the location of the emergency and why help is needed. Text in whole words, do not use abbreviations or slang. Push the “Send” button. Be prepared to answer questions and follow instructions from the 9-1-1 call taker.

Things to know about texting to 9-1-1:

Text location information is not equal to current 9-1-1 voice call location technology. Be prepared to give the location where assistance is needed. As with all text messages, 9-1-1 messages cantake longer to receive, can get out of order or may not be received. Text-to-9-1-1 is not available if you are roaming. A text or data plan is required to place a text-to-9-1-1. If texting to 9-1-1 is not available in your area, or if it is temporarily unavailable, you will receive a bounce-back message from your carrier indicating that texting 9-1-1 is not available and to contact 9-1-1 by other means, such as making a voice call or using telecommunications relay service (for persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability). Bounce-back messages are intended to minimize your risk of mistakenly believing that a text to 911 has been transmitted to an emergency call center. Photos and videos cannot be sent to 9-1-1 at this time, nor can emoji’s, gifs, or other non-text communications. Texts-to-9-1-1 cannot include more than one person. Do not send your emergency text to anyone in addition to 9-1-1 (no group messaging). Also, text messaging apps which only support texting with other app users or texting via social media are not required to support text-to-911, and so may not work in an emergency. If you do not receive a text response from 9-1-1, Contact 9-1-1 another way.

For more information on the Text to 911 system or to check if it is available in your area, Click Here.