TWIGGS COUNTY, Ga. — Imagine having an emergency and calling 911, but your local emergency service can't find you.
That happened often in Twiggs County, but now, their 911 system is getting a huge upgrade.
Dennis Lewis is the owner of an archery company, Obsession Bows.
He moved to Twiggs County in 2005.
"It's probably one of the safest places you can live. I really don't see any crime or read about much happening around Twiggs County," Lewis says.
One of Lewis' favorite hobbies is hunting.
"I really enjoy it here, being an outdoorsman," Lewis says.
In 2011, Lewis fell 25 feet in a hunting accident in Wilkinson County. That left him in a wheelchair for a year.
"I had to be airlifted, and I called 911," Lewis said.
He says Georgia State Patrol had to ping his location because Wilkinson, Laurens, and Twiggs counties could not locate him.
"I feel like if they could have located me quickly, my time of being in a wheelchair and recovery time would have been a lot less," Lewis said.
When Twiggs County completes its upgrade to the 911 system, people shouldn't have to worry about first-responders finding them.
"It's actually next-gen 911 capable," Jennifer Mullis said.
Jennifer Mullis, Twiggs County E-911 Director, says that will help them quickly locate cell phone callers
"For so long now, we've been without our 'Annie Alley,' which is what pings you on our maps and our 911 system has not been able to talk to our 'CAD,' which is our computer dispatch," Mullis said.
Mullis says their new system consists of a "Text to 911" feature.
That will let people to send a text message to the sheriff's office if they can't call.
"It's a bad feeling to have someone on the phone hiding in a closet that can't talk to you, but now maybe with this, they can," she said.
She says these new features will improve police response times, and Lewis agrees.
"I think being able to locate someone immediately with your cell phone is a big plus," he said.
She says the system should be running within a month.
The United States Department of Agriculture gave the sheriff's office a $100,000 grant for their 911 system and a $274,000 loan.