HINTON, W. Va. (WVVA) – When you call 911 in Summers County, you can now let your fingers do the talking. Thanks to the installation of new technology, people can contact 911 dispatch via text message.

Loyd Lowry, the county’s OEM 911 director, says implementing this program was a priority after seeing other West Virginia counties implement the change with great success.

“I’m in contact with most of the counties where the program is already running, and they are very happy and speak very positively about the service…” explains Lowry. “…When I took this position in March, I realized that there was nothing like this currently in this county, so I made it one of my top priorities to get it up and running…”

Lowry expects this will have a positive impact on the Summers County community as people with hearing or speech difficulties, or those who need to hide from someone, will be able to call 911 without saying a word. It will also help people who have difficulty with English as the program will translate both sides and allow them to call 911 in their native language.

“I think that’s always a positive. Anytime you can do things that increase the reliability of your emergency services and thereby increase the safety of your citizens and first responders, that’s a plus,” Lowry says.

Summers County is the 28th county in West Virginia to implement the program, but it won’t be the last. It’s all part of 911 centers’ efforts to adapt to ever-evolving technology.

“The ‘next generation standards for 911’ is not a requirement yet. We’re all working on it and basically it’s about making our system as modern as possible. We’re going to do that through voice over IP calling, the way inbound calls are handled. We’re going to kind of move away from the old copper wire phone service that we’ve become accustomed to for the last 130 years. That’s really a criteria that we all have to meet at some point.”

Lowry recommends that other counties that don’t already use 911 give it a try, adding that they’ve already received an emergency text message since the feature went into effect last week.

If you live in Summers County and want to use the service, Lowry says all you need to do is specify “911” as the text message recipient. Also, be sure to provide dispatchers with the necessary information, including your location and whether you need an ambulance or police.

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