Text-To-911 Service is now Available in Dutchess County

For those individuals who may have hearing loss or a speech impairment, Text-to-911 is great news. It can also be a life saver for those individuals who are unable to safely call 911, for instance domestic violence victims, or other crime victims, the authorities can be notified without anyone around you knowing.

According to The Poughkeepsie Journal, Text-to-911 service will now allow those in an emergency to text in to Dutchess County’s 911 Communications Center. In the text, users will need to provide information such as location and the type of emergency. The mobile device used for the text must also be GPS enabled.

While calling 911 is still the preferred way to ask for help, that's not always possible and as Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro stated in the article, 'When uncertain about whether to call or text, simply remember ‘Call if you can, text if you can’t.’

The Text-To-911 can accept texts from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon, as well as cell phones with other carriers which use those networks, according to The Poughkeepsie Journal. If you aren't sure, contact your carrier directly.

Dutchess County is only the eighth county in New York to offer this service, the others are Chemung, Monroe, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Steuben, and Rockland who was the first county in the Hudson Valley to have this service.