MOHAVE COUNTY – The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office has announced that it is now capable of accepting text to 911 emergency text messages to the dispatch center from the unincorporated areas of Mohave County. Lake Havasu City is already capable of accepting text to 911 emergency text messages. Currently, the cities of Kingman and Bullhead do not have this capability and text to 911 will not work if you are inside those city limits. Kingman and Bullhead City are currently in the process of bringing this capability to those cities.
Text to 911 provides significant benefits to citizens, especially in cases when the caller cannot communicate verbally. For example, text to 911 will be very useful to the approximately 34 million Americans who are hard of hearing, deaf, or speech impaired. Text to 911 could also help in situations when a crime is in progress; the caller is facing domestic violence abuse; the caller is injured and cannot speak; or other scenarios.
How to text 9-1-1 in an emergency:
• Enter the numbers “911” in the “To” field;
• The first text message to 9-1-1 should be brief and contain the location of
the emergency and type of help needed;
• Push the “Send” button.
• Be prepared to answer questions and follow instructions from the 9-1-1
call taker.
• Text in simple words – do not use abbreviations.
• Keep text messages brief and concise.
Below are a few things to know if you need to text 9-1-1:
• Text location information is not equal to current location technology.
• As with all text messages, 9-1-1 messages can take longer to receive, can
get out of order or may not be received.
• Text-to-9-1-1 is not available if you are roaming.
• A text or data plan is required to place a text-to-9-1-1
• If texting to 9-1-1 is not available in your area, or is temporarily
unavailable, you will receive a message indicating that texting 9-1-1 is not
available and to contact 9-1-1 by other means.
• Photos and videos cannot be sent to 9-1-1 at this time.
• Text-to-9-1-1 cannot include more than one person. Do not send your
emergency text to anyone other than 9-1-1.
• Do not text and drive!
For more information and educational videos about Text to 911, please visit the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office website at: www.mohavecounty.us/ContentPage.aspx?id=131.
