Washington State to begin launching Text-to-9-1-1 service

Washington State announced March 31 that it has begun phasing in Text-to-9-1-1 service. Wahkiakum County is not accepting text messages to 9-1-1 at this time, but is planning for an early summer deployment of this service.

Text-to-9-1-1 is available in some parts of Washington State. There are a few things people should know about how it works.

• Texting to 9-1-1 is intended to benefit people that may not be able to speak in an emergency. The key thing to remember is “Call if you Can, Text if you Can’t.”

• When texting to 9-1-1 for an emergency the first message should be the location of the emergency (including city) and the type of emergency help needed (police, fire, or medical).

• Keep text messages brief and concise; using full words.

• Stay with your phone, be prepared to answer questions and follow instructions from the 9-1-1 call taker.

• Photos and videos cannot be sent to 9-1-1 at this time.

Remember that Text-to-9-1-1 service is not yet available in Wahkiakum County. If a text is sent to 9-1-1 in an area without Text–to–9-1-1 service, there should be a reply message saying the service is not available.

For more details and updates about Text-to-9-1-1 go to http://www.co.wahkiakum.wa.us/depts/sheriff/index.htm or http://mil.wa.gov/e911.