BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Brevard County emergency officials recently announced that text to 911 is now available in the case of an emergency where speaking out loud could put someone in danger.
Anyone who uses Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon can use the service effective immediately.
Recommended Videos
“Having the capability of text to 911 provides invaluable safety and protection for more Brevard County residents and enhances the ability for someone in danger or distress to reach out for help to first responders in an emergency situation where they can’t place a phone call to 911,” said Brevard County 911 systems manager Deborah Sands.
Officials stress that calling 911 is usually the best method and texting should be reserved for situations in which speaking out loud could pose a threat or if the reporting party is deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired.
“This broadens the scope of 911 and its value in a specific range of emergency situations,” said Brevard County emergency management director Kimberly Prosser. “It’s not intended for general, regular use, as calling 911 is – nine out of 10 times – your best option in an emergency. But this does allow us to provide better service to the deaf and hard of hearing, and also assists people in situations where silence is necessary.”
While the service is easy to use, there are some things residents should know in the event of an emergency.
To begin, type "911" in the "to" field when composing the message. The first text should be brief and contain information about the location of the emergency and the type of help needed. The operator will send follow-up questions and instructions, so keep your cellphone nearby to respond to them.
Avoid using abbreviations, pictures, emojis or any multimedia when texting 911. Instead, aim to make messages clear and concise in texts that are no more than 140 characters long.
Anyone who uses the service needs to have a text or data plan and their cellphone cannot be in roaming mode. It's possible that texts to 911 could be delayed, sent out of order or not be received so in the case that a prompt reply is not received, call instead.
A bounce-back message urging the user to call 911 instead will be sent to anyone who tries to text in an area where the service is not available.
The text to 911 service should only be used in the case of an emergency. Pranksters or anyone who texts 911 with a false report can be located.
Texting to 911 is not available statewide, but it is offered in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties.