PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Dispatchers across Massachusetts have had success implementing the state’s silent 911 call procedure, which is gaining attention thanks to social media.
Dispatchers are trained to communicate with a caller unable to speak due to illness, injury or the presence of an intruder or other dangerous situation, WNYT reports.
"(If) somebody can’t talk, they need to be able to get their message across, and (this) is a great, great tool,” said Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher Amanda Czerwinski.
Dispatchers are trained to ask, “What is your emergency?” twice to ensure the caller is not using TTY for people who are hard-of-hearing before initiating the silent call procedure.
The dispatcher then asks the caller to press buttons on the phone: “1” for police, “2” for fire or “3” for an ambulance, “4” for a ‘yes’ response to a question and “5” for a ‘no’ response.
“It could be a medical emergency -- somebody’s choking, somebody’s had a stroke,” said Berkshire County Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Grady. “It could be a home invasion.”
In one case, a young girl who couldn’t speak because intruders were in her home successfully reported the incident to a dispatcher.
Massachusetts implemented the silent call procedure almost 29 years ago, but awareness of it has grown thanks to Facebook.
“We’ve done as much as public education as possible, but social media has taken it to another level,” said Monna Wallace, program director at the State 911 Department.