Looks like the word is getting out to the public that they can’t text 9-1-1. APCO’s own Courtney McCarron Hastings was quoted in a St. Petersburg Times story this week. “The only place in the United States accepting 9-1-1 texts is Blackhawk, Iowa, which began doing so in August 2009. A couple of places are accepting texts to their 10-digit lines, but that is not a true 9-1-1 solution, said Courtney McCarron Hastings, spokeswoman for the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International.

“The reason people cannot text 9-1-1 is because the technology supporting the 9-1-1 system is based on voice transmission, she said. Also, the call center (called the public safety answering point) accepting the data could not receive the information usually associated with 9-1-1 calls, such as the location and call-back number, that is crucial for response.”

View the entire story on the St. Petersburg Times Web site.

This story is a good reminder that we should all be educating our communities and reaching out to our local media contacts to let them know that texting 9-1-1 is not an option — at least not yet.