Emergency services in Campbell County are employing a new service that allows people to text 911 for emergencies.
The new service was rolled out this week, and the hope is that people will be able to reach 911 dispatch even if they don't have enough service to make a phone call.
Communications Supervisor for the Gillette Police Department Roberta Thwreatt said the new service will especially help those who have trouble communicating over the phone.
"One of the benefits of it is we will reach an audience [who] have hearing impairments that may not be able to use voice calling and also where there's a language barrier involved because we can then use Google Translate to go back and forth," she said.
Thwreatt said the service comes at no cost for the department.
"It's actually free software from the provider and our IT department was able to go through and work with the cell companies to do all the testing and get everything lined up, so it cost us nothing," she said.
The service is now up and running throughout Campbell County.
