911 and Text to 911 — Indian River County, Florida

Three agencies run 911 dispatch in Indian River County: the Sheriff's Office, which also dispatches police for Fellsmere and Indian River Shores, the Vero Beach Police Department and the Sebastian Police Department.

The Vero Beach Police Department set out that arrangement in an April 10, 2018 post, naming the three centers and noting that Fellsmere Police and Indian River Shores are dispatched from the Sheriff's Office (Vero Beach Police Department). The 2018 post also said that if one of the dispatch centers went offline, the remaining ones automatically got its calls and could dispatch them by working together.

Countywide, the 911 system itself is run by Indian River County 911 Administration, a division of the county Emergency Services Department at 4225 43rd Ave in Vero Beach, (772) 226-3900 (Indian River County 911 Administration). It maintains the 911 network and data, and its Public Safety Answering Point telecommunicators keep designated emergency lines staffed twenty-four hours a day for Fellsmere, Indian River Shores, Sebastian, Vero Beach and every other area inside the county line.

911 Administration states that it is not possible to reach the county's dispatch centers from outside the county, and that the listed agencies can alert emergency services and get responders on the way for someone calling from elsewhere (Indian River County 911 Administration). The numbers are the Sheriff's Office at (772) 569-6700, Fellsmere Police at (772) 646-6309, Indian River Shores Police at (772) 231-2451, Sebastian Police at (772) 589-5233 and Vero Beach Police at (772) 978-4600.

Police calls stay with the agency that patrols the address, but every fire and ambulance call in Indian River County is dispatched by the Sheriff's Office 911 Communications Center.

The Sheriff's Office says its center dispatches law enforcement for the unincorporated areas, the Town of Indian River Shores and the City of Fellsmere, together with Fire and EMS calls for the entire county (Indian River County Sheriff). It handles about 283,000 calls for service a year. Its telecommunicators are state certified, trained in Emergency Medical Dispatch and work in a center accredited through CALEA, staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The two city departments run their own rooms. The Vero Beach Police Department's Communications Division has 10 full-time communications officers who answer the 911 and non-emergency lines and send calls to road patrol, detectives or other staff (Vero Beach Police Department divisions). Sebastian's department, headquartered at 1201 Main Street, gives callers a dispatch option: dial 772-589-5233 and press 0, and use 911 for emergencies (Sebastian Police Department).

The practical effect for a caller in Vero Beach or Sebastian is that a single emergency can involve two centers: city police dispatch sends officers, and the Sheriff's center, run by an agency headquartered at 4055 41st Avenue in Vero Beach, sends Indian River County Fire Rescue (Indian River County Sheriff).

Yes: the county's 911 Administration announced that as of April 1, 2022, all of its answering points could take emergency texts, with a 140-character limit, from customers of AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.

The announcement, still posted on the county's 911 Administration page, lists the four carriers and the 140-character limit, and describes texting as a route into 911 for residents who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing or Speech Impaired (Indian River County 911 Administration). The same notice restricts it to two situations: a call cannot be placed, or talking would endanger the person in trouble. The rule is the same in Fellsmere, Gifford, Wabasso and the beachside towns, because every answering point in the county takes texts.

Outside the county the picture can differ. The FCC notes that text service exists only in certain locations and that each call center decides how to deploy it, and it tells phone users to make a voice call whenever possible, since a voice call gives the call center more information, and tells deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled users to use a TTY or relay service where text is not available (FCC text-to-911 guide). FCC rules require carriers and other text providers to send an automatic bounce-back message when text-to-911 is not available, so a Sebastian or Vero Beach resident texting from a place without the service is told to reach emergency services another way, such as a call.

Indian River County 911 Administration treats any moment a person feels at risk as an emergency, and lists smoke, fire, gas odors, breathing trouble and strange noises around a home among the reasons to call.

Its resident information page gives a longer list: chest pains or trouble breathing, bleeding that will not stop, a fall that leaves someone unable to get up, signs of a heart attack or stroke, smoke or natural gas smelled indoors, smoke or fire seen anywhere no matter how small, and someone suspicious outside or strange noises inside or outside the house (Indian River County 911 resident information). Those calls reach the Sheriff, Sebastian or Vero Beach center depending on where in Indian River County the caller is.

The page adds advice for visitors and part-time residents in Vero Beach, Indian River Shores, Sebastian and the rest of the county: always know the location or address, and have an internet phone provider update the service address after a move (county resident information). A caller who cannot talk should still dial 911 and leave the phone nearby. The county also suggests giving a trusted neighbor a spare key so responders can get in.

No: Florida law makes the name, address, phone number and other identifying details of a person who calls 911 confidential, so agencies such as the Sheriff's Office and the Sebastian and Vero Beach police may share them only with another public safety agency.

Section 365.171 of the Florida Statutes exempts that identifying information from the public records law while it is held by the agency providing emergency services, whether that is the Sheriff's Office, the Sebastian Police Department or the Vero Beach Police Department (Section 365.171, Florida Statutes). The same law names 911 as the designated emergency number, bars a public safety agency from promoting any other number for emergency response, and requires the state Division of Telecommunications to approve any new or expanded E911 system, including changes to the network Indian River County 911 Administration runs from 43rd Avenue.

The Sheriff's Office asks anyone who dials 911 by mistake in Indian River County to stay on the line and say so, because a hang-up triggers a callback and an attempt to locate the phone, with a deputy sent to make contact.

Its dispatch page puts it plainly: children play with phones and buttons get pressed, so a caller who reaches 911 by accident should not hang up, should tell the call taker it was a mistake and may be asked to verify some information (Indian River County Sheriff dispatch). The check takes seconds on the line, while a dropped call means the center tries to call back and locate the caller, and a deputy goes to the location. The guidance is posted by the Sheriff's center, which answers for the unincorporated county, Fellsmere and Indian River Shores.

Phone lines in Sebastian, Vero Beach, Fellsmere and the rest of Indian River County carry the statewide 911 fee of 40 cents per month for each service identifier, set by section 365.172 of the Florida Statutes since January 1, 2015.

The statute caps the fee at 50 cents a month, applies the 40-cent rate uniformly across Florida, and splits the Emergency Communications Trust Fund into wireless, prepaid wireless and nonwireless categories (Section 365.172, Florida Statutes). Prepaid wireless fees are collected separately through the Department of Revenue. The law also limits what the money pays for: it may not cover capital or operating costs of responders dispatched to an emergency, or utilities and building construction, leasing or maintenance except certain building modifications, so the fee cannot pay for the Sheriff's deputies or Indian River County Fire Rescue crews sent to a call.

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Indian River County 911 Administration website.