Costa Rica News – Costa Rica’s 911 emergency system will hopefully get updates soon, both in financing and logistics. There is a bill regarding the system that the Legislative Assembly will see after Holy Week.
It would refinance the system and empower it to update its platforms.
ICE had to forgive a huge debt in order to keep the service up and running last year. Financing is also needed for additional operators to meet demand for the service.
Among the updates desired is to be able to receive alerts by text messages and Whatsapp. This is so that if someone is in a situation where they fear being overheard on a call they can request help in another way. Additionally, this would allow the deaf population to reach out to 911. If the legislation is approved, by December 2019 emergency reports via texts and apps will be received.
Another update is the development of technology to allow the operators to know the origin of the communications. This will help locate lost or in need individuals as well as apply fines to those who call with jokes or insults distracting operators from real emergencies. 5,000 illegal calls are received per month.
Lastly, there will be a way that people can register so that if they call in an emergency the system will already have relevant information like cardiac or diabetic conditions.
