For the first time in Chatham-Kent, people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired will be able to easily connect with a 911 dispatcher by using their cellphones.
Brian French with the Chatham-Kent 911 police and fire dispatch says the new service launched Wednesday morning.
All you need to do is register with your cellular provider.
"They will actually dial 911 just as anyone would dial 911 -- they're not using their text or SMS apps," says French. "Once they dial 911, the system will put the call through to us, so we'll still be able to hear the ambient sounds on the other end of the line."
French says that is helpful for the dispatchers because they will be able to listen for indicators as to whether someone near the caller is having a medical emergency, whether a collision took place, or whether there is a house fire.
Once the call is connected with the dispatcher, the caller will be able to communicate back and forth via text messaging.
A TDD machine. (Photo by Sclozza at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain.)
The old system relies on a small box with a keyboard called a TDD machine, which is hardwired into a phone line.
French says he was surprised to learn from the Canadian Hearing Society that many members of the deaf community have multiple TDD machines in their homes for quick access.
"You never know what room you're going to be in when you need to call 911," says French. "They are always wanting to be close in the event that they need to call someone for help."
A number of other communities across the country have had the new system in place for a while now, but French says Chatham-Kent was lagging behind because it required a number of significant infrastructure upgrades.
"We're not one of the larger communication centres in Ontario, so we had to wait our turn," says French. "As of [Wednesday] morning, we are very happy that we finally flipped that switch."
French says at this point, the service is only available for residents with hearing or speech impairments.
There is no launch date in the foreseeable future for the general public to have the ability to text via 911 on their mobile devices.
You can find out more about the 911 texting service by clicking here.