Text-to-911 likely saves life of deaf woman in San Bernardino

At approximately 1:00 p.m. this afternoon, the San Bernardino Police Department received a 911 text from a woman having a heart attack and was able to dispatch fire personnel to her in time to likely save her life.

The text came from a 52-year-old woman who lives alone in the City of San Bernardino and is hard of hearing. With this new system, which was officially rolled out just two weeks ago on December 10, the woman was able to summon immediate assistance and fire personnel transported her to St. Bernadine's Medical Center where she is expected to make a full recovery

"This is a huge step toward ensuring the safety of the speech and hearing impaired residents of our communities and also represents a vital mechanism toward getting help to those whose safety would be further jeopardized by audibly calling 911," said San Bernardino Police Department Lieutenant Mike Madden.

"The 'Call when you can - Text when you can't.' Text-to-911 technology possibly helped in saving a life today. We are also immensely thankful to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department for spearheading this project and making our region the driving force in the Western United States in text-to-911."

The San Bernardino County law enforcement agencies that can accept the 911 texts are Barstow, Chino, CHP Barstow and Inland Empire, Colton, Cal State San Bernardino, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Redlands, Rialto, San Bernardino City, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Valley and Desert Dispatch Centers, and Upland.