Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties incorporate 911 texting

UPDATE 5:00PM 10/14/16: In Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, technology is creating a new way to report an emergency when a call can’t be made. People in both counties will now be able to send a text to 911 in situations where they’re not able to talk.

911 dispatchers at Santa Cruz Regional will now be able to respond to emergencies without having to talk at all. Santa Cruz and San Benito residents can send a text message to 911.

“It was important to us to that if that technology exists, that they have the ability to do that,” said Santa Cruz Regional 911 General Manager, Dennis Kidd.

It’s a simple procedure, just text your emergency to 911 if you can’t call for any reason, and dispatch will text back.

“Just like a 911 call, you never know what people are going to say when they call so they all get routed here, they all get routed to our center, everyone here is trained to accept them,” said Kidd.

It’s meant for situations where someone doesn’t feel safe talking, like a home invasion or an accident in a location with bad reception. However, it’s initial introduction was aimed at a different demographic.

“The hearing impaired community have never had direct access to 911 before, so now they do,” said Kidd.

Those who text 911 will most likely receive a standard question first.

“Are you able to call 911, because we would rather be able to talk to you then have to text with you. It’s just much more efficient to communicate that way,” said Kidd.

It’s a change that dispatchers say they’ve handled with ease.

“The ones that we do get, it has an audible alert on it so if we do get one, we’re tuned into it right away and we can acknowledge and respond to it,” said Dispatcher David Brenner.

It’s a technology that Monterey County should be getting soon, and could eventually become standard everywhere.

“They’re just processing emergencies and this is just another way of the emergency to get into our building,” said Kidd.

ORIGINAL: Santa Cruz Regional 911 is now accepting text messages that can be used in place of a phone call. Residents in Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties can now use the system by texting a message directly to 911.

The system was initially put in place last February, but routing issues have caused some text messages to not get through properly. Santa Cruz Regional 911 says those issues have now been addressed, and the texting sytem should work in most areas of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties.

Despite the introduction of the system, dispatchers are still urging those with emergencies to call 911 first before having to resort to texting.