PLANO (1080 KRLD) - The city of Plano now allows people to text 911 during an emergency. The city started a "soft launch" two months ago but has now officially put the system online.
"We're ready to roll that out to the public," says Director of Public Safety Communications Susan Carr.
During the soft launch, she said one application for texting 911 became clear. She says someone texted during an asthma attack and could not talk. Carr says dispatchers were able to send paramedics and communicate with the patient until they arrived.
"If you can't breathe, you can't talk, so that's a great opportunity to use text to 911," she says.
Carr says the first choice should always be to call 911, but people could also use the text function if they are hiding from someone and afraid to make noise.
She says people who text should not use abbreviations. She says people who are texting should explain what happened and give a precise location.
"Our public education is location, location, location," she says. "If we can't find you, we can't help you. That's why that's always the first question. And call if you can, text if you can't."
Plano is upgrading servers, but right now, the city cannot accept pictures or videos sent to 911.
"In the future, as we move to a new network, we'll be able to accept a picture of the car that just hit you and ran and pass that along to first responders, but we have to move to this new equipment to be able to do that," Carr says.
Most of Collin County accepts text-to-911 now, but it is not available in Richardson or Wylie. The City of Dallas does not accept texts, and the service is not available anywhere in Tarrant County. Someone who sends a text to 911 in an area where it is not available will have the message bounce back with a note to call for emergency services.