According to Business Insider, U.S. Smartphone owners sent an average of 1,000 texts per month in 2013. People send these texts to decide where to go for dinner, let friends know weekend plans, and everything in between. For most, texting is simple and often times more convenient than calling. So why can’t people text 911 during an emergency – a time when the speed and easiness of texting can really be useful, or even life saving?
The Petition
As of today, nearly 58,000 people have signed a petition “calling on Congress to pass legislation mandating that all emergency call centers update their systems to receive and respond to 911 texts.”
Some people know that they can text 911 but they do not know that if the call center cannot receive text messages, their text for help could go unanswered. In fact, only 6% of emergency call centers across the country can accept text messages. Congress has the ability to mandate the implementation of text receiving technology into all call centers nationwide so there are no more unanswered texts.
Why Is This Important?
Although calling 911 is the best way to reach help, having the ability to text 911 gives people another option in case calling fails. This is especially important for the over 60 million Americans that do not speak English at home and cannot easily communicate with dispatchers. With the touch of one button our One-Touch-911 system sends information directly to every dispatch center nationwide regardless of their current infrastructure. This information includes:
- One’s exact location
- Relevant medical information
- Type of emergency
- Demographic data
- User’s native language
This ultimately gives people less things to worry about during an emergency. Having emergency help at one’s fingertips gives people peace of mind and makes communities safer.
Join Us!
We signed the petition and we hope that you will too! Join us in bringing 911 to the 21st century.