As the world races through telephone technologies at a dizzying pace, at least one 911 call center in Iowa is keeping pace—relatively speaking. Black Hawk County, Iowa, became the first U.S. emergency call center with the ability to accept text messages Wednesday, according to an Associated Press report.
The county, which includes Waterloo, Evansdale, and Cedar Falls, is now offering the service to subscribers on the i wireless network, but only when they’re physically located in the county, according to the article. Although the service should be beneficial to the hearing impaired and those unable to speak safely during an emergency—kidnapping victims or hostages, for instance—calling is still the preferred method of contacting 911, technicians said. One drawback of texting is that emergency officials are unable to identify a caller’s location from the text message.
Public safety telecommunications company Intrado, which upgraded the Black Hawk system, told the AP that it was working with other carriers to expand the service and allow for video and photo transmission, as well.