NG911 Hearing: Why we need better emergency tools for disability communities

By Perry Hoffman

GATINEAU – The development and deployment of a next-generation 911 network (NG911) is perhaps most critical for Canadians who are unable to use the conventional call-based system.Several groups representing the blind, vision impaired, deaf and hard of hearing told the CRTC on Thursday they need new tools to effectively communicate with 911 call centres in times of emergency.They noted that while text with 911 is one such tool, it’s not very effective now. The T911 service was created as a measure to allow deaf and hard of hearing individuals to contact emergency call centres. But because of delayed response times...