“Call if you can, text if you can’t.”
That’s the slogan for the new system that allows people within the borders of the 18 Conference of Western Wayne (CWW) communities to text for help if they can’t call 911.
The City of Belleville, Sumpter Township, and Van Buren Township are among the Western Wayne communities in CWW that can use the texting for help.
CWW stresses that the best way to contact 911 will continue to be by voice communication whenever possible, but during times that it is not, text-to-911 is now an option.
This service benefits those involved in incidents where verbal communication is limited, or sometimes not an option at all. For example, text-to-911 will be very useful for the approximate 34 million Americans who are hard of hearing, deaf, or speech impaired.
Text-to-911 could also help in situations of domestic violence, kidnapping and other situations where victims need a way to call for help without tipping off a criminal during the commission of a crime.
Anyone who is within the borders of the 18 CWW communities can use the service, as long as they have a texting plan with one of the four major carriers: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon. The service is activated by sending an SMS text on a mobile phone to the number “911.” That text message will be routed to the nearest CWW911 dispatch center for action.
At the current time, the rest of Wayne County outside of the CWW area does not have the text-to-911 service, although some neighboring counties such as Oakland and Macomb have fully implemented the text-to-911 system.
If the texter is in an area that does not support text-to-911, the texter will receive a “bounce-back” message informing them 911 is not available via text.
How to text in an emergency:
- Enter the numbers “911” in the “to” field;
- The first text message to 911 should be brief and contain the location of the emergency and type of help needed;
- Push the send button;
- Be prepared to answer questions and follow instructions from the 911 call taker;
- Text in simple words. Do not use abbreviations; and
- Keep text message brief and concise.
Below are a few things to know if you need to use text-to-911:
- Text location information is not equal to current location technology. Be prepared to give your location.
- As with all text messages, 911 messages can take longer to receive, can get out of order, or may not be received at all.
- Text-to-911 is not available if you are roaming.
- A text data plan is required to use text-to-911.
- If text-to-911 is not available in your area or is temporarily unavailable, you will receive a message indication that texting 911 is not available and to contact 911 by other means.
- Photos and videos cannot be sent to 911 at this time.
- Text-to-911 cannot include more than one person (group texting). Do not send your emergency text to anyone other than 911.
The 18 community members of CWW that can use text-to-911 are: City of Belleville, Canton Township, City of Dearborn, City of Dearborn Heights, Garden City, Huron Township, City of Inkster, City of Livonia, City of Northville, Northville Township, City of Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Redford Township, City of Romulus, Sumpter Township, Van Buren Township, City of Wayne, and City of Westland.