Emergency text service for deaf

[Via BBC]

People with hearing or speech problems will be able to contact the emergency services using mobile phones in Northerland . This comes into effect after the opening of a new Northern Ireland police text messaging service. The project was developed by the police in partnership with the Deaf Association of NI and British Telecom.
People who register with the service will be able to use their mobile phones to text the police, who in turn will contact the relevant emergency service. The messages, which can be sent from any part of Northern Ireland, will go centrally to the police service's Belfast regional control centre.

We are delighted with this recent development as it is vital that deaf sign language users have equal access to the emergency services of Northern Ireland

, said Majella McAteer, of the Deaf Association of Northern Ireland.