Maryland County to Offer 911 Texting for Speaking, Hearing Impaired

Frederick County (MD) is one of the first jurisdictions in the country to offer the option to text 911, reports CBS Baltimore.

Verizon customers will have the option to text 911.

“It will be just like a chat session people may be familiar with, where both messages will pop up–the message from the caller and then the text we’re typing to reply,” said Jack Markey, Dir. Frederick County Emergency Management. “And we’ll lead them through a series of questions to dispatch the appropriate resources.”

Frederick County is an early adopter of this technology for a good reason.

It is the home of the main campus of Maryland’s School for the Deaf, where many on staff see a real need for texting 911.

“And something happens and we can’t help. We have to call someone, you know what I mean, we can’t call,” said Rex Moers, Dean of Students.

Read more of the story here http://cbsloc.al/100fTTT

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