Pitkin County Phone Users Need To Start Dialing All 10 Digits in a Number
In the old days, you could reach a neighbor by dialing just four or five digits. As of Sunday, everyone in the 970 area code has to dial all 10 digits in a phone number.
The change in Colorado is part of a national switch that will enable the national rollout of 988, which will be the National Suicide Hotline. That number will take callers to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, which will go live July 16, 2022.
That’s a big step in national and local suicide prevention efforts.
Erin Ivie is the executive director of SpeakUp ReachOut, the Eagle County-based suicide prevention group.
“The transition to 988 as the new suicide prevention lifeline is a huge step in helping end stigma towards those seeking and accessing mental health care,” Ivie wrote in an email. “This new crisis line will help ensure that callers are connected to a trained professional who can address their immediate need and reduce the use of law enforcement resources in a mental health crisis response.”
SpeakUp ReachOut is a community partner of Vail Health’s Eagle Valley Behavioral Health.
