'Silent' 911 help available.

Byline: Kim Ring

For two decades 911 dispatchers have been ready to help emergency callers who, for whatever reason, cannot speak. But it seems few people beyond the trained dispatchers were aware of that fact.

That is, until a new graphic explaining how the "Silent Call Procedure'' works started showing up on social media recently.

"Social media gave it a tremendous boost,'' said Monna R. Wallace, director of programs for the state 911 Department.

When the system was developed 20 years ago it was promoted in the usual ways, but that was before Facebook and Twitter, and the migration of public safety personnel to those sites where they post information about crimes, scams and ways people can stay safe.

On Wednesday, people who follow state Trooper Dustin Fitch on Twitter saw the graphic on his feed and immediately began reacting. Many retweeted it, and within a few days thousands of people had seen it. Some replied and said they were surprised they'd never heard of it before.

"We're so impressed,'' Miss Wallace said. "Social media is new to our department. We're getting our feet wet with it and we're excited.''

The silent call procedure is used by dispatchers who answer 911 lines in Massachusetts. They've been trained to ask, when a caller is silent, for the person to...