Emergency aid now a text away

13 Aug 2015

Technology

People needing emergency in Jackson County now may contact 911 by text message as well as by telephone.

Text-to-911 is available for use in Jackson County, Maquoketa Law Center officials said Monday.

Jackson is one of 12 Iowa counties participating in a pilot program to test new technology that allows cell phone users to contact 911 using text messaging from within the county.

Text-to-911 allows cell phone users to send a text message to 911 in an emergency, said Bob Lane, chief dispatcher at the Maquoketa Law Center, where emergency communications for the county’s police departments, sheriff’s office, fire departments, ambulance services and first responders are handled.

Currently, U.S. Cellular, Verizon, iWireless and AT&T have text-to-message capability in Jackson County, Lane said. Sprint and T-Mobile will be testing such capability in the near future, he said. (full article...)

BY DOUGLAS MELVOLD, Bellevue Herald-Leader, August 13,2015.

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