Residents of Sarasota County who have trouble with hearing or in situations that don’t allow them speak to 911 dispatchers in an emergency can type out a text message for help.

The Sarasota County Public Safety Communications Center is the second agency in the state to launch the “next generation” service, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Operations Bureau.

While residents are encouraged to call if they can, users texting 911 are asked to provide precise location and description of their emergency. The text-to-911 service cannot pinpoint the location of text messages, like it can with Enhanced 911 voice calls.

“With changes in technology and culture, written words and acronyms can take on completely different meanings,” said SCSO Emergency Operations Manager Kris Adams. “For example, while acronyms such as ‘SMH’ might suggest ‘shaking my head’ to a citizen, our operators will receive that as ‘Sarasota Memorial Hospital’. We can’t stress the importance of clarity enough.”

Group messages and multimedia messages that include photos or video and messages sent from outside of Sarasota County will receive not be accepted. Invalid messages will receive a bounce-back text that says: “Please make a voice call to 911. There is no text service to 911 available at this time.”

Users are asked to avoid using abbreviations or slang.

Wireless carriers permitted to offer emergency texting services are: Verizon Wireless, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile. Users must have a text or data plan to use the text-to-911 service.

“Voice calls to 911 are still the best and fastest way to get help during an emergency,” Emergency Operations Bureau Captain Jeff Slapp said. “Technology can be temperamental and while we continue to adapt to these new services, we encourage citizens to call if you can, text if you can’t.”

Motorists who witness an emergency are asked to pull over before sending a text message.