The service works by relay assistant. The user sends their emergency SMS to the service phone number, and the relay assistant speaks this message to the emergency services. Any responses from the emergency services are then turned into SMS format for the user by the relay assistant.
Any person wishing to use the service must register their phone number. You can find information on the emergencySMS website about how to do this (see below for the address). The website also provides instruction videos in BSL (British Sign Language) for users who are deaf of have a hearing impairment. Any registered user making inappropriate or hoax calls will have their registration cancelled and will be barred from using the service.
The website states that as of August 2010, “The emergencySMS service has now handled over 300 real emergency calls covering the whole range of emergency situations; criminals have been arrested, lives have been saved and two babies have been safely born with the help of this service.” Although not currently championed by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, the service is publicised by Action for Hearing Loss (formerly RNID), and as a result many more users are hearing about the service.
If you think that you, a family member or friend may benefit from speech and language therapy, or would benefit from advice around alternative communication strategies such as emergencySMS, Integrated Treatment Services could be of help. Contact us here: https://integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/contact-us/enquiry
Further Information
emergencySMS website – http://emergencysms.org.uk/index.php
Ofcom website – http://www.ofcom.org.uk/
Sarah Bennington, August 2011
Written on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. Integrated Treatment Services is a private Speech and Language Therapy service based in Leicestershire and the East Midlands. It specialises in providing highly-skilled Speech and Language Therapists, but also associates with other therapeutic professionals, including Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Arts Therapists.
