OPP says most of Canada supports text with 911 for hearing and speech impaired

_ (press release) _ (ORILLIA, ON) – The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is proud to support the national launch of _ Text with 911 _ (T9-1-1) for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired (DHHSI).

Since April 2015, the OPP has been equipped to receive emergency calls for service via T9-1-1 and for which the OPP is the Primary Public Safety Answering Point (P-PSAP), improving its capacity for emergency response and enhancing the safety for an important segment of the communities it serves.

T9-1-1 enables emergency communication with OPP 9-1-1 call takers via text message (Short Message Service or SMS). In order to use T9-1-1, members of the DHHSI community must register their cell phones with their wireless carrier in advance.  Some older model phones may not be compatible. Those who have more than one cell phone will need to register each phone individually.

The T9-1-1 service is not intended for use by the general public. Police remind the public that the network does not support text to 9-1-1. In fact, there is no Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in Canada capable of accepting text to 9-1-1 messages at this time. As always, police continue to encourage everyone with a genuine emergency situation to make a voice call to 9-1-1 and provide information to the calltaker.

For more information on this initiative, visit the Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association at www.cwta.ca .

QUOTES

“The OPP has increased accessibility for persons with disabilities through extensive network upgrades to be able to offer _ Text with 9-1-1 _ service in the communities we serve. It’s great that this important service is now available on a national basis.”

– Deputy Commissioner Brad BLAIR – OPP Traffic Safety and Operational Support