Peterborough Police & Fire Services Now Equipped To Receive 9-1-1 Calls Via Text
/Peterborough Police Service and Peterborough Fire Services have officially launched Text with 9-1-1. The service improves Peterborough’s capacity for emergency response, enhancing the safety for an important segment of the communities they serve.
Beginning Monday, December 19th, Peterborough Police Service and Peterborough Fire Services will be equipped to receive emergency calls for service via Text with 9-1-1 from people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired.
Photo Courtesy Peterborough Police
“The PSAP [Public Safety Answering Point] through the Peterborough Police Service is now fully functional with text with 9-1-1 services for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired,” says Alison Kirkland, 9-1-1 Communications PSAP Manager with the Peterborough Police Service. “This service is a more user-friendly and accessible version of the system that was previously in place.“
“With Text with 9-1-1, many people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired and rely on text messaging as their main form of mobile communication will now be able to initiate a call to 9-1-1 which will make managing emergency situations easier,” adds Gary Malkowski, Vice-President, Stakeholder & Employer Relations, Canadian Hearing Society and member of the CRTC Emergency Services Working Group. “This nationwide system provides better access than what was currently available for the Deaf, hard of hearing and speech impaired community in an emergency.”
Photo Courtesy Peterborough Police
9-1-1 service is provided through an agreement with Bell Canada and the City of Peterborough. Text with 9-1-1 enables emergency communication with Peterborough 9-1-1 call takers via text message (or SMS). In order to use Text with 9-1-1, people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired must register their cellphones with their wireless carrier in advance. It's important to note that some older model phones may not be compatible. Those who have more than one cellphone will need to register each phone individually.
The Text with 9-1-1 service is not intended for use by the general public.
It is also important to note that currently the Provincial Ambulance Service or Central Ambulance Communications Centre Lindsay for our municipality is not moving ahead with text with 9-1-1 services at this time. The Peterborough Police Service will continue to downstream ambulance services as has been their past practice with the exception of notifying ambulance that the call is text eligible and staying on the line until they have all pertinent information as necessary.
Photo Courtesy Peterborough Police
