Imagine yourself in the middle of nowhere and needing help &045; with only a cell phone for assistance.

If you call 911 from a Cellular South phone today &045; or very soon with a Centennial or Cingular cell phone &045; emergency dispatchers will be able to track where you are.

Dispatchers will be able to display your latitude and longitude on their computer screens with the touch of a buttom, saving minutes in emergency response time.

That new technology will be a huge help not only to emergency responders but especially for those in need of their assistance.

Adams County is one of only three counties with such an emergency response system wired for cellular phones. The county teamed with the city, civil defense and the soil conservation service to hire a person to set up a computerized mapping system of the county.

When you add in leasing equipment from BellSouth, the whole process costs the county about $1,800 a month &045; but we’re betting you’ll find that money worth it if you end up on a country road with no one else in sight and no idea where you are.

We’re glad the city, county and emergency officials had the foresight to get on board with this new technology, and we know that it will serve many people well &045; and probably save lives &045; in coming months and years.