Enhanced 911 (E911) Training

Regional TTY (TDD) Training 

View training dates and locations.

The Washington State 9-1-1/TTY Education Program provides regional teletypewriter (TTY) trainings to 911 telecommunicators in Washington state. The State E911 Program contracts with the Hearing, Speech & Deafness Center of Seattle to provide the TTY training for 911 telecommunicators.

Training is free of cost to telecommunicators from primary and secondary Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Non-PSAP personnel are welcomed to attend this training offering; however, this person is to contact the manager at dplatt@hsdc.org

Telecommunicators who take the training receive credit hours with Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC).

Two types of training are offered through the State E911 Program:

  1. a first-time training offering, and
  2. a refresher training offering

The first-time cultural training is four (4) hours in duration, or six (6) hours if offered in the King County region, and includes:

  • an overview of characteristics of callers (Deaf, Deaf-Blind, Hard of Hearing, Speech Disabled)
  • how to communicate with these populations via TTY and phone
  • technologies and relay services used by Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing people
  • American Sign Language (ASL)
  • TTY Protocol
  • ASL/English translation exercises
  • Hand-On TTY practice

The refresher class is two (2) hours in duration and includes:

  • sharing experiences about receiving 9-1-1 calls from Deaf, Deaf-Blind, Hard of Hearing, or the Speech Disabled
  • review of information presented at the first-time training
  • review of technologies used by Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing people
  • discussion of American Sign Language (ASL) gloss.

Please RSVP at least four working days prior to the training offering. To reserve your training space by email contact: dplatt@hsdc.org or phone the Hearing, Speech & Deafness Center (HSDC) office in Seattle at 206-323-5770 V/TTY; or Fax at 206-328-6871.