Medicine Hat 911 dispatch centre (Photo courtesy Ross Lavigne)

By Brendan Miller

Text to 911 service now available for people with hearing and speech impairments

Apr 14, 2023 | 3:36 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The City of Medicine Hat is expanding its technical abilities to serve people with hearing and speech impairments who need to access emergency services.

Once the service is set up with their phone provider, they’ll be able to send a text to the 911 call centre.

The only way currently to access 911 in Canada is through a voice call.

Jaci Fox, acting strategic manager and business analyst for the City of Medicine Hat, says it’s important people everyone is able to easily access 911.

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“We can never predict who is in need of our help so we want to make sure those services are available to the community whatever your needs are. We are the first responders and so we want you to be able to get the help you need,” says Fox.

Fox says the country is slowly working to provide text to 911 services for all Canadians. She expects Medicine Hat’s call centre will be able to receive text messages by the end of the year.