A Law to Save Lives

Our children are taught from a young age how to call for help: dial 9-1-1. But that doesn’t always work.

In December of 2013, one of Kari Dunn’s three children tried to call for help multiple times from their Marshall, Texas hotel room as her mother was brutally attacked. Tragically, Kari’s young daughter did not know that she had to dial “9” to make a call outside the hotel before dialing 9-1-1. Sadly, emergency personnel did not arrive in time to save Kari’s life.

This week, I was honored to meet with Kari’s father, Hank Hunt, to talk about Kari’s Law, legislation I've cosponsored to ensure that dialing 9-1-1 from any phone will connect you directly to emergency personnel. This will save valuable time that could mean the difference between life and death.

By September this system will be implemented in Texas, but this lifesaving change must be implemented nationwide to keep tragedies like this from happening again.