Texting 911: Quebec women’s shelter applauds upcoming changes

A group that helps victims of domestic violence is embracing forthcoming changes that will allow Quebecers to text 911 operators.

By March 2025, Quebecers will be able to text 911 in real time and send pictures and videos.

The new technology is being welcomed by many.

“It’s really, really a nice new option that you can connect with them by text or when you are not in a situation where you can speak on the phone,” said Gaëlle Fédida, the provincial coordinator with Alliance MH2. “And this might very well be the situation of some woman targeted and who has tried to get support, to get help from outside.

“To have a new means to contact emergency services is good.”

Fédida adds the possibility of sending media to 911 will not necessarily legitimize the proof – but it can definitely be a tool.

She does envision one issue though.

“Unfortunately there are still large regions in Quebec that are not covered by the cell network,” she told CityNews. “So this of course is still an issue. So it’s really nice to have another option, but the Ministry of Cybersecurity here in Quebec (needs to) keep in mind that some women don’t have any options yet.”

Fédida pointed to a recent example of a situation where Quebec’s cellphone network was spotty in rural areas: an alert warning of an armed suspect in Saint-Elzéar-de-Bonaventure was sent out to Quebecers in September 2022.

While much of the province received the emergency alert, a large part of the citizens of Saint-Elzéar itself could not receive it due to lack of cellular coverage.

Quebec will invest $45.5 million over three years to modernize 36 call centres across the province, Public Safety Minister François Bonnardel announced last week.

The upgrade is being called “next-generation 9-1-1” says Jean-François Poulin, the assistant director of innovation and transformation in pre-hospital emergency care with Urgences-santé.

“Let’s say that you want to text 911 because you can’t talk,” said Poulin. “Let’s say you’re at a big concert and your friend just loses consciousness. And with all that music, you cannot just disappear. You need to stay on site. The dispatcher will hear the music and you’ll be able to initiate a real-time text so the dispatcher will see in real time each character that you write. So it’s not like you write a text message and send that.”

The option to text 911 is also meant to allow victims of a crime to contact emergency services with a lesser chance of being detected by the aggressor.

And the ability to send photos and videos is expected to allow medical professionals to see the situation at hand before first responders arrive on site.

Advocates say those extra tools could help save more lives.

“It’s all a question of context and better serving the population that we serve,” said Poulin.