Texting 911: Options Expand For Marin County Emergencies

MARIN COUNTY, CA – San Rafael, Fairfax and Novato police departments now can accept emergency texts to 911 throughout their jurisdictions, authorities announced Wednesday.

The Marin office of the California Highway Patrol also accepts text-to-911, and the Marin County Sheriff’s Department will begin accepting such calls in June, the San Rafael Police Department said.

The agency added that the 911 texts only should be used in emergency situations when placing a telephone call is not possible, or if perhaps the caller is deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired, or if speaking out loud would put the caller in danger or if a medical emergency renders a person incapable of talking.

San Rafael police offered these tips if you need to text 911: Remember these steps:

• Call if you can, text if you can’t. Calling 911 is still the best way to report an emergency.
• Text to 911 is designed for situations where you cannot speak safely.
• Don’t text and drive.
• Include your location and the type of emergency.
• Do not use slang, abbreviations or emojis.
• Be prepared to answer questions and follow instructions.
• Do not send pictures, videos or other types of media.
• Do not group text with 911.

If text-to-911 is unavailable, callers will receive bounce-back messages and must call 911 to receive emergency assistance.

Police from the Town of Fairfax offered these useful need-to-know tips:

• The five major phone carriers (AT&T, Comcast, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) offer text to 911 service in Marin County. Depending on the technology and the device used, customers of other carriers may be able to send a text to 911.
• As with all text messages, they may take longer to receive and respond than a voice call and could be received out of order or not at all.
• Texting 911 also does not provide an accurate or reliable location of the texter as text GPS information is not equal to current wireless phone call location technology.
• Voice calls are real time communication while texting is not.
• Translation services are available with voice calls. At this time, translation services are not available for text-to-911; please text in English only.

How do I text 911?

• Enter the numbers “911” in the “To” or “recipient” field;
• The first text to 911 should be short and include the location and nature of the emergency;
• Push the “Send” button;
• It is important to provide your location as quickly as possible keeping in mind that text to 911 service does not provide an accurate or reliable location of the texter.

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