Contacting 911 should be a call away for everyone, but it’s not that simple for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Instead, it’s an exhausting process that put Gabrielle Wong’s father at risk after finding himself alone during two life-threatening emergencies where he couldn’t call 911 without someone to translate. Since then, Wong developed a free, mobile app that makes emergency services more accessible for Deaf and disabled communities called AccesSOS, reports NowThis News.
The story of AccesSOS began when her father’s gallbladder ruptured while teaching a class at Ohlone College, according to NowThis News. His phone wasn’t compatible with traditional teletypewriter (TTY) relay services, which allow Deaf people or people with speech disabilities to communicate with others, including 911. With the pain worsening, Wong’s father had limited options.
“I tried to text my daughter [but] she was stuck at work,” William Wong told NowThisNews in a video interview. “So it was an emergency. My gallbladder was about to burst. My doctor said, ‘Wow, you barely made it.’”
After previously surviving a car crash, Wong described to Forbes that the possibility of her father going through emergencies without any support is her biggest fear. And with it coming true, Wong knew she had to take action.
“He was all alone and I didn’t see his texts for help in time. During one of the most vulnerable, desperate moments of his life, he couldn’t contact 911 to get help,” Wong said to Forbes in an interview. “He almost died because of this inequity. These personal experiences motivate me to keep doing the hard work of fixing this problem.”
AccesSOS is a non-profit tech start-up that Wong created to remove the unnecessary obstacles that make calling 911 and receiving help inaccessible. The app’s picture-based navigation features, location tools, and language preferences convert all the text information into a 911 call. According to its website, AccesSOS can also support domestic abuse survivors, people with limited English proficiency, and those experiencing emergencies where they can’t call openly.
While text-to-911 and TTY services exist, they can still exclude some from emergency assistance depending on the location.
According to Stand Together, some 65 million Americans don’t have access to 911. The AccesSOS app also connects people to mental health, social services and to people not trained to assist in emergencies not suitable for police and fire departments.
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