911 calls

With tty being obsolete these days, I noticed that relay service do not allow any 911 calls.

Suppose if you only have pc and/or cell phones (assuming you re deaf and can't call) , what will you do if you have to call 911?

Yes TTY/TDD do make 911 calls. Sometimes they hang up but they shouldn't. I think I did it twice on TTY called 911. And it worked fine.

As for PC/cell phone, good question. I have no idea... they should do something for deafies..such as 911 on AOL AIM? That'll be nice and helpful.

Sorenson VRS do allow 911 calls...we did that before..

TTY/TDD sucks! SLOW! UGH!

LakeTahoe said:

Yes TTY/TDD do make 911 calls. Sometimes they hang up but they shouldn't. I think I did it twice on TTY called 911. And it worked fine.

As for PC/cell phone, good question. I have no idea... they should do something for deafies..such as 911 on AOL AIM? That'll be nice and helpful.

Sorenson VRS do allow 911 calls...we did that before..

TTY/TDD sucks! SLOW! UGH!

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Yeah, I know that TTy is slow, but we are in the future with better high technology, execpt not in Australia, we are just catching up though.

Once I had to call 911 and I was really nervous but had to act quickly so
I used my HA phone switch volumne turned up and listen for the dial tone then listen for the ringing and answering with voice. I said "I am deaf, my name, my address, my phone" and I left the phone handle on the floor so if police department could not understand me, then could trace my call.

This is the only way that I know how to contact 911 quickly.

At my department the older and newer equipment are used together.

While the computer system will pick up TTY capability on cell phones (my cell is TTY capable) and other relay services, we still have the old stanby TTY handset unit.

I am curious now. I will check with our 911 dispatchers and see how they get calls from the different sources.

SuziMaria's suggestion is a good one. If you dial 911 and don't hang up, you do not even have to say anything and they will come to your house. When you call 911 they automatically know where you are if you are calling from a regular phone. You can just press 9-1-1 on the phone and then put it down (don't hang up!) and they will send someone right away.

Sorenson does offer 911 service, but it is not a perfect system. I would say that the most important development we should have in the VRS world is to make 911 calls faster and easier. I can't think of any other improvements in VRS technology that would be more important than improved 911 service.

Get the phone number of a local 911 call operator and add it to your list of "quick dial".

VamPyroX said:

Get the phone number of a local 911 call operator and add it to your list of "quick dial".

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I'm confused, how is this different from just dialing 911?

Is this a sarcasm? Calling 911 to find out their phone number, and I can guarantee the phone number of 911 call center is.... You guess it! 911!

VamPyroX said:

Get the phone number of a local 911 call operator and add it to your list of "quick dial".

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diehardbiker said:

Is this a sarcasm? Calling 911 to find out their phone number, and I can guarantee the phone number of 911 call center is.... You guess it! 911!

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You and I were both confused!

I think I figured out what he means though. When you call Sorenson VRS and ask for 911, they connect to a special service that has the LOCAL phone number for the emergency services. For example, if you call 911 in Boston, you get a different place than if you call 911 in Los Angeles - but if you were in Boston and you wanted to call 911 in Los Angeles, you would need to know the LOCAL Los Angeles center phone number, otherwise you would get the Boston center.

So I think what he means is that you should find the number for your local 911 center and put it into your quick dial on your VP. That way instead of calling Sorenson and having them find out how to connect to your local 911 center, you already get connected directly there.

However, I don't think this is a good idea. I am a Sorenson VRS interpreter, and we have a special set of rules for 911 calls. So it is better to dial "911" on your VP and we will get you connected. We stay on the phone with you until the police get to your location. So if you cannot dial 911 from a regular phone, dial 911 on your VP and the interpreter will help you.

We do need better 911 on VP but I don't think calling the local number yourself on your VP is a good idea. Either dial 911 on your regular phone if you have one, or dial 911 on Sorenson VRS.

Ok I know that you can make a call via tty or pc. But I was wondering what if you have no access to tty or pc and you are stuck with just a cell phone (i.e. you re traveling or on the road ) Suppose you have to call 911 and you are only limited with cellphone, if i am not wrong but all relay service on cell phone would not accept 911 calls. what would u do ?

btw , dailing and leaving phone to allow 911 to trace where you live is very dangerous idea because they do not know what kind of help you re seek for. Suppose if u or others are having some kind of health problem related and they send a police to your place which you dont need one. Any mishaps or miscommuncations can result in death. Is there any way to solve this problem?

if your cell gives a visual readout of when a call is answered, and you speak (even if badly/unclearly) state that you're deaf, such and such is wrong, and where you're at. Stay on the line.

That's all you can do, really. 911 through relay on a cell phone would be quite difficult if it was a real emergency, waiting up to 2+minutes for an operator, typing on a tiny little keypad, and going through the process of them finding which 911 location to call cos it can't automatically route like a standard phone call.

If you can't speak, best bet is to dial and leave the phone open. If you can speak, best bet is to dial, wait for some indication of noise, state the problem, and stay on. VRS is very much a "second best" option, as it can add quite some extra time to the call.

btw , dailing and leaving phone to allow 911 to trace where you live is very dangerous idea because they do not know what kind of help you re seek for. Suppose if u or others are having some kind of health problem related and they send a police to your place which you dont need one. Any mishaps or miscommuncations can result in death. Is there any way to solve this problem?

OK if it's a medical emergency then dial 911 wait or count to 20? then say "need ambulance!" and leave the phone line open. If you can not speak, and leave the line open, at least you will see a police officer within minutes and he can take over the situation whereas you could not yourself.

One thing I have thought of while wearing a HA, turn on the telephone switch and I can hear voices but since I'm a lip reader, I do not know if the operator is saying "state your reason for calling" or "please hold for the next avail operator" so I stick with plan A, wait a few minutes then just start talking about your information and leave the line open. I always say "I am deaf, I can talk to you but can not hear what you are saying" and this is to make them realize my situation immediately.

If I am in a terrible emergency situation, I do not have the ability to run to computer and think of what to do. My first reaction is to run for the hearing telephone and dial 911.

lumbingmi said:

...btw , dailing and leaving phone to allow 911 to trace where you live is very dangerous idea because they do not know what kind of help you re seek for. Suppose if u or others are having some kind of health problem related and they send a police to your place which you dont need one. Any mishaps or miscommuncations can result in death. Is there any way to solve this problem?

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That's not a perfect solution but it's better than nothing.

If your 911 call is about an intruder, you might prefer to leave the phone line open and not speak, hearing or Deaf, because you don't want the intruder to hear you.

If you 911 call is about a medical emergency, even if you can't speak (which sometimes includes hearing people), if the operator hears people crying, moaning, or screaming, they will send help.

If it's a fire emergency, get out of the house first, then use your cell phone/pager, or go to a neighbor's house for help.

I'm not sure what the protocol is for dispatching help for a 911 call that has no one speaking. It might vary depending on the location. I don't know if they send the police first to evaluate the situation, then wait for the police to request ambulance, fire trucks, SWAT, whatever, or do they send the police with an ambulance back up?

I'm also curious if it would benefit Deaf drivers to have OnStar in their cars. Would that be a good way to get help on the road?

Etoile said:

I'm confused, how is this different from just dialing 911?

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Relay can't dial 911 for you because 911 is a local thing. Dialing 911 from your home phone will take you automatically to the nearest 911 operator. Dialing 911 from your cell phone will take you through the nearest cell tower to the nearest 911 operator. Dialing 911 through relay will take you to the relay center (which is located in the middle of nowhere) which can't automatically connect you to your local 911 operator.

By adding the actual local police/fire/medical phone number to your relay list, you can call relay and they will connect you to the actual local emergency operator.

Etoile said:

You and I were both confused!

I think I figured out what he means though. When you call Sorenson VRS and ask for 911, they connect to a special service that has the LOCAL phone number for the emergency services. For example, if you call 911 in Boston, you get a different place than if you call 911 in Los Angeles - but if you were in Boston and you wanted to call 911 in Los Angeles, you would need to know the LOCAL Los Angeles center phone number, otherwise you would get the Boston center.

So I think what he means is that you should find the number for your local 911 center and put it into your quick dial on your VP. That way instead of calling Sorenson and having them find out how to connect to your local 911 center, you already get connected directly there.

However, I don't think this is a good idea. I am a Sorenson VRS interpreter, and we have a special set of rules for 911 calls. So it is better to dial "911" on your VP and we will get you connected. We stay on the phone with you until the police get to your location. So if you cannot dial 911 from a regular phone, dial 911 on your VP and the interpreter will help you.

We do need better 911 on VP but I don't think calling the local number yourself on your VP is a good idea. Either dial 911 on your regular phone if you have one, or dial 911 on Sorenson VRS.

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Yes, Sorenson does connect you to the nearest 911 center. Other relay services don't... unless their website specifically state that they can.

That's why it's best to check with your relay service to find out if they can handle your 911 call (whether you're able to communicate or not).

Our local ambulance service has its own emergency number to dial if you need a direct connect to EMS because the way our EMS is set up here the average joe dials 911 - the operator in the Sheriff's office picks up and says - "What is your emergency?" then you say "I need an ambulance, my mom is unconscious on the floor."
"Is she breathing?"
"yes"
"Is she responsive?"
"No"
"OK let me get your address and phone number, are sending EMS to your location."
"OK *address* my number is 555-1234"
"Stay on the line while we get EMS enroute to your location."
Then the 911 operator has to get on the FM band with EMS dispatch then relay the information to the EMS dispatch which when pages the EMT and Medic which may or may not be in the station at that time. Then EMS dispatch has to reconnect to the 911 center then relay back to the 911 dispactch that the Ambulance is enroute with a 10-15 ETA depending on your location, traffic, and weather.

So this is why in my area it is wise to have your police, fire, and medical emergency numbers punched directly under your quick dial, with police at the top.

Youd think with e911 systems in place this would mean they are TTY/TTD/VRS compatible. But it doesnt.

So I would check with your local 911 dispatch and ask them given your situation what is the best method to contact them.

some dispatches send no one out if they cannot hear anyone on the other end of the line and may think it is a child that is playing with a phone so you may need to yell and scream help help for them to understand that this is a real emergency.

I was reading the Sorenson agreement (for a totally different reason, not 911) but my eye caught this paragraph (their bold).

D. The VRS may not be available at all times due to interruptions, technical problems, and/or system upgrades and maintenance. The VRS is not for Emergency calls and is not a substitute for 911 services. Sorenson Communications urges you to use traditional TTY relay service for emergency calls to avoid a possible life-threatening delay.

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Dixie said:

...some dispatches send no one out if they cannot hear anyone on the other end of the line and may think it is a child that is playing with a phone so you may need to yell and scream help help for them to understand that this is a real emergency.

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Yikes, that's scary! Suppose a person calling can't speak for physical reasons, medical reasons, fear, or whatever? If someone is injured, pushes the 911 button, then passes out, they can't speak. If someone hiding under the bed with the phone quietly pushes the button but can't speak because a murderer is searching the house, what will happen?

And yet, there are some who will dispatch even if a dog or cat accidentally bumps the 911 button.

as I said reba - it is SOME and not all.

Those that dont send anyone out when there is no voice on the other end are the ones that get alot of prank calls, children playing with the phone and whatnot.

If there is an intruder in the house get out anyway you can it is better than trying to 'hide'. Get out of the house and go to a neighbors to dial 911.

Perhaps this may be a better solution:

have a friend make a tape recording explaining your situation such as:
My name is David, I am deaf and I cannot hear you. I am in need of emergency assistance, my address is 12345 Rosebud Lane. My phone number is 555-1234.

When you need assistance - dial 911 then put the receiver over the speaker of the tape player. Leave it there until assistance arrives.