Indian River County Sheriff launches Text-to-911

Indian River County Public Safety Dispatch, with the Indian River County Department of Emergency Services, has launched Text-to-911 emergency services on the four major wireless carriers – AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile.

Text-to-911 allows improved service to the deaf and hard of hearing, as well as the speech impaired.

The service should only be used in an emergency situation when placing a call is not possible or when speaking out loud would put the caller in danger.

Even still, voice calls to 911 remain the best and fastest way to contact 911.

How to use Text-to-911:

• Enter 911 in the “to” field of your text messenger

• First Message – Send location of emergency, type of emergency: Police, Fire, Ambulance, and your name – press send

• Silence your phone if you are in a dangerous situation

• Use simple words, no slang or abbreviations

• Keep messages brief and concise

• Don’t use emojis, bitmojis, gifs, or other images to communicate your emergency

• Don’t text and drive! Pull over to a safe location and stop your vehicle before sending a text