Making a local call? Be sure to use area code

Change is required next week to bring suicide prevention hotline to reality

Next week, if you want to make a phone call, you’ll need to use the area code – whether or not the call is long-distance or local. The Yuma Sun printed an editorial back in April discussing the change, which in Arizona impacts people who live in the 480, 520 and 928 area codes.

The change is required because the Federal Communications Commission approved 988 as the three-digit abbreviated dialing code to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. That lifeline will be available July 16, 2022, the Associated Press reports.

The change to 10-digit dialing, however, takes place next week on Oct. 24, in preparation of making 988 a reality.

The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is a needed resource in every community, including Yuma. Any step to bring a person closer to help as quickly as possible when that person is in a dark place is a worthy endeavor. Dialing 988 will connect suicidal people with mental health crisis and suicide prevention counselors with just three quick keystrokes.

But for that to happen, anyone with a 928 phone number must make a change on their phone habits.

After Oct. 24, local calls dialed with only 7 digits will not be completed. Instead, callers will get a prerecorded message noting the call cannot be completed as dialed, the FCC notes. Callers will then need to include the area code to proceed.

If you have phone numbers pre-programmed into your cell phone, and they don’t have the 928 area code included, you will need to go in and adjust your saved numbers to include the area code.

The same thing applies to safety and security equipment, such as medical devices and security systems. Many systems already use 10-digit dialing by default, the AP notes, but it’s still worth checking to avoid a problem later on down the line.

The AP notes this will not impact or change the price of a call, coverage areas or other rates and services.

It’s simply an added three digits required to make local calls. And it’s important to note – it doesn’t impact numbers like 911. That’s still simply 911.

The good news is, in the near future, there will be a new benefit out there – a three-digit number to call for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which makes it that much easier for people in need of help to find it.

For Yumans, having to dial the area code first is a small price to pay to have something as important as 988 out there.

And in the meantime, if you are in crisis and need to speak to someone, please call 1-800-273-8255.

Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.