Text-to-911

What It Is

In August 2009, the 911 center serving Waterloo and Black Hawk County, Iowa, became the first in the nation to accept text messages. At first, only customers of one local wireless company could use it, and dispatchers wrote back with questions to find out what was happening. The service was meant especially for people who are deaf or hard of hearing or who have a speech disability. In May 2014, Vermont became the first state to offer statewide text-to-911, and AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon promised to support it by May 15 of that year. The rule today is "Call if you can, text if you can't" because a voice call is still the best way to reach 911, and texting isn't available everywhere.

Why It Matters

Text-to-911 gave people who struggled to reach emergency help by voice a new way to ask for it, and it can help when speaking out loud isn't safe. It also shows that 911, which started with a red telephone in 1968, keeps changing as people's communication changes. Dispatchers who take texts have to ask their questions in writing, which means choosing every word carefully. In 2021, 911 centers in 38 states reported receiving more than 500,000 texts. Texting isn't available everywhere yet, so it is worth checking with a grown-up whether it works where you live.