Text-to-911 Emergency Service available in Powell County

Powell County Sheriff Gavin Roselles announced that citizens with cellular phone subscriptions may now send a short message service (SMS) text message to 911 for emergency help when unable to make a 911 voice call. Text-to-911 presently works on AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon cell phones. Powell County joined 36 other Public Safety Answering Points with Text to 911 capabilities including all surrounding counties.

Text-to-911 is not intended as a replacement to 911 voice calls in emergency situations. Rather, it serves as an alternative when calling is implausible: The caller is hearing/voi...