People can now text 911 in an emergency in Westmoreland County.

The new tool can come in handy for those who have language or hearing difficulties or others who would be safer not making a phone call, such as a person hiding from an intruder, said Cassandra Kovatch, spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Public Safety.

“We’ve been pretty eager to release this,” she said.

Calling 911, however, remains the best option.

“Still call if you can and only text if you can’t,” she said. “Calling is always the preferred method.”

The service went live Thursday for anyone in the 14-county area that is part of the Pennsylvania Region 13 Task Force, a public safety group spanning from Mercer to Somerset counties.

Allegheny County, which is included in the group, has had the capability since 2014 — though the option would cease once a person crossed county lines, according to Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs.

Kovatch said recent upgrades allowed for the addition of texting.

To text 911, open a new text message and type in “911” in the “To” field. The message should be simple and short, but detailed with the location of the emergency and what type of help is needed, such as fire, police or ambulance. The message sender will be able to communicate back-and-forth by text with a dispatcher, though officials warn that a cell phone should be placed on silent if the sender’s safety would be in jeopardy by audible notifications.

“Just as a telecommunications officer would ask over the phone, those same questions would be asked in the text format,” Kovatch said.

Pictures, videos or other files cannot be sent to 911 and text messages should be simple, but not contain slang or abbreviations. A text or data plan is required to send a message to 911 so deactivated cell phones will not be able to use that method.

“We expect to see somewhat of an increase,” Kovatch said, though officials believe the majority of communication with 911 will remain through phone calls.

The system underwent testing between September and December and 100 text messages were received, she said. Like any other communication with 911, the text messages should be in emergency situations only.

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