Text First. Talk Second.

"The September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the 2011 East Coast earthquake all share
something in common – each caused massive mobile phone service disruption for millions of Americans.

Mobile call volume simply overwhelmed provider capacity during these incidents.

The desire to call loved ones after an emergency or disaster is natural. However, preparedness experts universally agree that during an emergency and its immediate aftermath, communicating via SMS text messaging should be your first choice.

This is because non-essential calls often shutdown wireless phone service and prevent 911 calls from getting through and emergency personnel being unable to communicate with each other. In fact, just a single one-minute phone call takes up the same bandwidth as 800 short SMS text messages.

Also, unlike phone calls, text messages get through even when the network is congested.  Even if it gets a "busy signal" on its first try the text system will continue to keep trying to deliver your message. This makes text messaging perfect for sending non-emergency messages like “R U OK” and “I M OK.”

So remember, after a flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado or earthquake, use your wireless device to Text First. Talk Second.

Get the word out. Let your family and friends know if a natural or man-made disaster happens in your vicinity that the best way to check-in with you is to first try and contact you via text message."

Click on the link below for more useful information about Text First / Talk Second and learn how you can participate in a preparedness texting drill.

Text First. Talk Second.