All Californians will soon be able to text 911 for help

Every dispatch center in California must accept text message requests for help starting Friday. The new 2021 law (AB 1168) will make California’s 911 emergency dispatch system more robust to serve the deaf as well as those in rural parts of the state. Some counties do not have the option in place yet but are working on changing their system. Other Counties already have such a service in place, such as Sacramento County which set up a text-to-911 service in 2018. You can read the text of the bill here.

New Orleans now offers emergency texting

The deaf and hard of hearing in New Orleans can now communicate with first responders using video and texts when they call 911. You can read more here or watch the video below:

Hotline called 'Epic Failure' for Deaf community

New York City has a complaint and information hotline (311). But it does not work well for deaf and hard-of-hearing residents, according to Councilmember Fernando Cabrera. "Some people report waiting up to 45 minutes before connecting with someone who has a way to answer their questions, Cabrera said. He noted some folks have been hung up on by operators who assumed they were prank callers." Read more from The City newspaper here.

An Emergency System for Deaf Beach-goers

An emergency system for deaf beach-goers called Beach Emergency Evacuation Lights System (BEELS) will get its first workout in Torrance Beach. There will be a ribbon-cutting and day at the beach for the deaf community next month. Within two years BEELS is expected to be in place along LA's coastline. Read more about it in the LA Times here.

Accessibility in Tampa Bay

Deaf advocates in Tampa Bay applaud the inclusion of Text 911. But they also say there's still a lot to do to make the community accessible. Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.

What you need to know about emergency cellphone alerts

Following a false alarm in Hawaii that a ballistic missile was on its way, state and federal officials are reconsidering how emergency cellphone alerts are set up. CNET has gathered some of the basic information about the system here.

You can now text 911 in LA

If you live in Los Angeles County you may be able to send a text to 911 when there is an emergency. The new service is being rolled out and it's already available in 170 communities including Long Beach and Glendale. If the message does not go through, the FCC requires all U.S. phone carriers to send a note to the customer saying the text failed. One significant limitation: It's not available during roaming and only texts using written English are accepted.
For a list of which communities in LA offer the service, click here.

FCC switching from TTY to Texting

The FCC has unanimously voted to move from TTY to RTT (real-time text messaging) as a standard for wireless carriers and device manufacturers. Among other things, the switch will "allow 911 operators to receive incomplete messages during an emergency." You can read the FCC order here or details about the issues including the history of the TTY here.

Text-to-911 saves woman's life

The ability to text an emergency request made the difference for a California woman yesterday. The Press-Enterprise has the story of how police are crediting a news 911 option with saving her life here.

Deaf Boy's family pranked

Sanford, Florida

Someone is pranking a family with a deaf son in the Sanford, Florida area. Fake 911 calls are coming into county emergency services through video relay asking for help at the residence when no help is needed. Police are trying to track down the caller. Read more on the story from WFTV here.

FEMA: Prep for Storms

A rep from the New Jersey Association of the Deaf and also the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) explains how to prepare for a storm in the FEMA video posted below on DeafNewsToday.com. Annmarie Buraczeski also shares her personal experience with Superstorm Sandy.

Deaf Needed to test new Emergency System

NPR Labs will get federal money to work on delivering emergency alerts to the deaf along the Gulf Coast through local public radio stations. The goal is to show that battery-powered radios will keep people informed during emergencies even when electricity, the Internet and other communications channels are disrupted. This pilot system developed by the research arm of NPR is supported by Homeland Security and FEMA and offers real-time emergency messages, such as weather alerts. The system will work through CAP, the Common Alerting Protocol. CAP is the emergency system that took the place of the EAS (Emergency Alert System) and before that the EBS (Emergency Broadcast System). There will be 25 public radio stations in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas involved in the testing since the Gulf Coast often contends with hurricanes and tornadoes. During the test, the stations will broadcast alerts to receivers that can accept text messages. Deaf volunteers will be alerted to the message by a flashing indicator on their radios or a bed-shaker triggered by their radios.NPR Labs will look for 500 deaf people to volunteer in the effort. If all goes well, the system will be offer nationwide through public radio stations.

Texting 911 in Canada

One year from today (Jan 24, 2014) is the deadline for Canadian wireless carriers to upgrade their equipment so that their networks support text messaging communication with the deaf. Users will have to register their phone numbers with their wireless service provider to ensure it is compatible with the new 911 feature. Here's how it works: During an emergency, the phone customer calls 911 and then the emergency center is automatically informed there is a text message coming through related to an emergency. A text message sent to 911 does not go to emergency services in the country.

Text to 911 progress

The FCC is recognizing Gallaudet University’s Technology Access Program for the vital part it is played in the development of text-to-911 technology. The service will be available nationwide a year from this May from by the four big U.S. wireless carriers: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon.

'Swatting' suspect may avoid charges

Police in LA say the 12-year-old who used TTY to summon Swat teams to celebrity homes may not face criminal charges. He used a computer program that allowed him to make the fake emergency calls through the system set up for the deaf. He was able to get SWAT teams to the homes of Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber by saying a gunman had fired shots and was threatening to shoot any police that came to the residents. Even if the boy avoids jail, his parents may be on the hook for bills reaching the tens of thousands of dollars. A video report from KTLA-TV is posted on DeafNewsToday.com or read more from KTLA here.

Training for shooting scene

An active shooter is killing people in a building filled with deaf students--that's the scenario faced by hundreds of law enforcement officers from five agencies during a five-hour practice drill at the California State University in Northridge this morning. The Los Angeles school has one of the largest deaf student populations on the West Coast. You can read more on the story here.

Pleas from Hurricane Victim

A woman losing her home because of hurricane Sandy says she's frustrated at not getting the help she needs. The deaf woman explains her situation in the video below or you can read her story here.

Texting to 911 Coming

Texting to 911 should be here by 2014. The FCC says the 4 big wireless carriers have agreed to push the service through next year with full coverage for it by May 15, 2014. The Commission is calling the effort Next Generation 911. Users will gett a text message back from the carrier if their attempt to reach 911 fails. AT&T and Verizon are already testing 911 services. AT&T has a statewide trial effort going on in Tennessee. Next year, the FCC will look at making it possible to send photos and videos to 911 centers.

Bloomberg's Terp

The ASL interpreter for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is getting serious social media attention. The passionate style of Lydia Callis has, according to New York magazine, given "New Yorkers a legitimate reason to smile". Here's a video of her at work.

Emergency Planning: An Uphill Battle

A look at how RID is working with emergency management officials here.