About
The help alert allows a user to send a text to 911.
This is only for persons situated in the United States/Canada/Mexico or other locations where 911 is the emergency services phone number.
Call 911 if you can. Text 911 if you can’t.
When to use text
Using Text-to-911 in an emergency might be helpful if you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, or if making a voice call to 911 might be dangerous or not possible.
Requirements
You must have a phone subscriber plan with a telecommunications carrier.
Availability
Not all 911 emergency call centers have Text-to-911 capability.
If you attempt to send a text to 911 where that service is not available or your phone is in “roaming” status, you should receive a “bounce-back” message informing you that the service is unavailable.
Bounce-back messages are intended to minimize your risk of mistakenly believing that a text to 911, has been transmitted to an emergency call center when it has not.
Pre-formatted SMS to send
Once you activate help and select the 911 Text option on the help prompt, a pre-formatted SMS will be displayed.
This is an SMS from your phone handset. You will need to manually send it.
It does not come from AEGIS 24/7 system. This is done so the 911 emergency call center identifies your phone number.
If you receive a reply from 911, detail the type of emergency you are reporting and respond to any information they ask.
You can copy and share a link on the help prompt with 911.
If text to 911 is not active in the county you are in, a bounced notification will appear from the cell phone provider, notifying you that the text did not go through to 911.
Information included
The pre-formatted SMS includes everything to alert 911. It also includes a web link that includes your details and live location.
SMS content
– You are declaring an emergency
– Your name
– How you are activating – via the Core Lite app
– A web Help link
Help link is a web link, viewable on any device. It is designed to provide responders with all they need to take next steps. It includes:
– Your name as displayed in Core Lite
– The phone number assigned to your Core Lite membership
– Your live location
– Your battery % indicator
– Your altitude indicator
Communicating with 911
The pre-formatted SMS you send is the start of your conversation with 911.
You will need to declare the reason for the emergency and continue answering the operator’s questions.
The operator will end the conversation.
What not to do
Do not try to send a text to 911 that is part of a group text.
Do not send videos, photos or attachments with an SMS.
Do not include emojis.
Do not use abbreviations.
Do not try to text while driving.
For more see here about 911 texts