Q. Hello Honk: Can you text 911, and will it work in Orange County?
– Mario Luna, Anaheim
A. Yes, since 2019 you have been able to request emergency help in Orange County from out on the road or anywhere else via text.
Voice calls are preferred, but this feature was developed to help those with speech or hearing disabilities — and those in a pickle where they don’t want the bad guy to hear the message.
To text such an alert, send it to “911” and tell the dispatcher a location, a short description of what is going on and who are needed — paramedics, police officers or firefighters.
Photos, videos, icons and group texts don’t work. Avoid emojis and abbreviations.
If the county you are in doesn’t accept 911 texts, you will get a message saying so.
Even in just the last several years, the 911 text system has improved in Orange County if not elsewhere. Now, instead of only a real general location, the dispatcher automatically can tell where the message sender is. English is no longer the only language that works. And what can be sent will be expanded.
” A call or text to 911 allows dispatch to see the caller’s exact location and even see if they are moving,” Capt. Aaron Brady, who among his duties at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department oversees the agency’s dispatch unit, told Honk via email. “The text-to-911 software will automatically recognize and interpret other languages. … In the near future, the next-gen 911 system will come online and people will be able to send pictures and video to 911.”
Different agencies handle different 911 calls and texts, in part based on their jurisdictions. In 2022, the Sheriff’s Department received 203,000 such calls, the captain said, and 3,615 texts.
Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties in recent years also have started at least limited text-to-911 programs.
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