Business Insider
Leading mobile providers have now begun allowing people to text 911 in emergencies, helping those who may have trouble making calls or feel unsafe making calls in their emergency situation.
The feature is supported by the 4 biggies: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.
This is a list of the states and counties that have call centers that support 911 texting right now. The goal is to have this become nationwide.
Here's how it works:
- You text 911, stating your emergency and location, just like you would if you were on the phone.
- Then the text pops up at a call center where someone confirms emergency personnel is on the way.
- Send location updates. If your location is changing, you can send GPS information.
- You can also take and send photos. If you see a crime being committed and you can safely take a picture, you now have the ability to send them to participating 911 centers.
One of the main differences between texting and calling 911 is that location data is not released upon texting in an emergency.
As kids, we were taught that calling 911 in a non-emergency would get us in trouble because the police could tell who was prank calling and show up at your door to teach you a lesson.
We are curious to see if the text feature causes more help or harm.