System and method for text messaging for emergency response

摘要

Systems and methods are provided to guide an emergency dispatcher in responding to emergency communications. The systems and methods may allow the dispatcher to use one or more of a plurality of different communication methods to communicate with a person needing assistance, such as by sending and receiving SMS/MMS messages. The systems and methods can include an emergency police, emergency fire, and/or emergency medical dispatch protocol configured to facilitate rapid, uniform, and consistent handling of communications. The emergency dispatch protocol presents a pre-scripted interrogation, including preprogrammed inquiries for a dispatcher to ask the person needing assistance. The emergency dispatcher may be able to easily send preprogrammed inquiries to the person needing assistance via SMS/MMS message and provide their responses to the emergency dispatch protocol quickly and/or automatically. The dispatch protocol may facilitate quick deployment of responders even if the person needing assistance cannot talk and/or hear.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method for guiding a dispatcher when communicating with a person needing assistance via a communication device regarding an emergency incident and for dispatching an emergency dispatch response to the incident, the computer-implemented method comprising:
presenting, on a dispatch center computer device, a pre-scripted interrogation comprising a plurality of preprogrammed inquiries for the dispatcher to present to the person needing assistance in order to systematically obtain a description of the incident, wherein the description of the incident comprises responses by the person needing assistance to the plurality of preprogrammed inquiries; automatically sending, using the dispatch center computer device, at least one preprogrammed inquiry to the person needing assistance as an SMS/MMS message responsive to a dispatcher input at the dispatch center computer device without the dispatcher copying and/or transcribing the at least one preprogrammed inquiry; receiving, on the dispatch center computer device, input representative of the responses by the person needing assistance to the preprogrammed inquiries of the pre-scripted interrogation; determining automatically on the dispatch center computer device a determinant value from one of a plurality of pre-established determinant values based on the input representative of the responses by the person needing assistance to one or more of the plurality of preprogrammed inquires; and generating an emergency dispatch response by emergency responders based on the determinant value.