HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – You can now text 911 in Ottawa County for emergencies.
As of 12:01 a.m. Friday, February 10, the system became available. Tim Smith is the Executive Director of Ottawa County Central Dispatch and says the main target audience is someone who is hearing or speech impaired. The national slogan is “call if you can, but text if you can’t.”
“If someone is in a situation where it is dangerous to talk we can text back and forth with them. You could have someone breaking into your house or a domestic violence situation. A situation such as the Orlando night club situation hooting where people do not want to give out their location, but want to give information to 911.”
The texting is free and Smith says it will probably be a rare occurrence for someone to use the service, but for those times that people cannot talk or hear, the technology is available.
