WASHINGTON — A D.C. man who is deaf said he texted 911 to report a life-threatening emergency and was shocked when the response he got was to make a "voice call" instead.
Graham Forsey and his interpreter spoke to WUSA9. He said the problem happened on July 24 when he texted 911 to report a man who was having a mental crisis in the middle of H Street. The response he got was to make a voice call instead.
“Please make a voice call to 911. There is no text service to 911 available at this time.”
Forsey said the reply was frustrating.
"I texted you for a reason," he said. "I can’t call.”
In case of an emergency, the 911 texting service is the only way for Forsey to get help, as he does not have access to equipment called a teletypewriter (TTY) that some deaf people use to make phone calls.
Forsey reached out to the D.C. Office of Unified Communications (OUC). In an email, Director Heather McGaffin told him there was a high number of 911 calls at the same time he was trying to get in touch with 911.
D.C. ANC members have expressed what they called "grave concerns" about how the District handles 911 calls and its OUC.
There's been a renewed focus on the agency after 10 dogs died in flash flooding at District Dogs last month. Call logs showed emergency crews took more than 20 minutes to respond, with the call being mislabeled as a "leak" despite callers saying a wall had collapsed and people and dogs were trapped.
Forsey said it could mean the difference between life and death.
“I hope they will continue to focus on their bases. Their 911 text system is not robust enough. Hopefully, Heather’s team is working on it and making sure it doesn’t happen again,” Forsey said.
WUSA9 reached out to OUC about the text. The agency said they had no record of a text from Forsey's phone number and claimed that the text he was sent is a generic FCC message sent by carriers when they are unable to deliver texts to 911.
“The Office of Unified Communications (OUC) is committed to providing accessible emergency response services. While we are only one of approximately eight states in the country that offers text to 911 service, a voice call to 911 during an emergency is always preferred. The District accepts TDD/TTY calls option for residents and visitors that are deaf and/or hard of hearing and callers do not have to call a separate TDD number for police, fire, or medical emergencies.
OUC researched the phone number provided and the agency does not have a record of this text received by the DC 911 system. The reply they received is the generic Federal Communications Commission message sent by carriers when they are unable to deliver texts to 911, 'Please make a voice call to 911. There is no text service to 911 available at this time.' A bounce back message from OUC would state: 'Text to 911 is currently unavailable. Please make a voice call to 911.' With either response, the individual was instructed to make a voice call to 911.”
To use text to 911 in DC, callers must follow certain requirements and guidelines:
- Requires a text-enabled/capable cellular phone.
- Location Services must be turned on.
- Text messages only. No Photos.
- Text messages must be brief and easily understood.
- Use Plain English. NO abbreviations, shortcuts, or slang.
- Voice calls are preferred. Text only when you can’t call.
Sometimes OUC runs into higher-than-normal text volume due to spam texting and reports of incidents that are not assault, robbery, or domestic violence or where a person has sustained an injury that prevents him/her from speaking.