You can call 911 in the U.S. even with no cell service.

Should you ever have to call 911, don’t worry about how many bars you have — you can make emergency calls even without cell service or a SIM card. This has been the case since the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 took effect, as one provision of the law required the Federal Communications Commission to make 911 the universal emergency number for all telephone services. This is why iPhones sometimes say “SOS only” and Android phones display the message “emergency calls only” when you don’t have reception.

You can text 911.

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You can indeed text 911 instead of calling, but not everywhere. The service is offered only in certain areas, and calls are preferred.

There’s a caveat, however: Calls made from phones without active service can’t automatically deliver your location to the dispatch center, which also won’t be able to call you back if you become disconnected. Another unfortunate side effect is an increase in prank calls made from phones without service, as they’re essentially untraceable; children given phones without service as toys can sometimes make errant emergency calls as well. 

Because call centers are required to find out whether an emergency actually exists, such calls are a burden on the system — so use this safety net responsibly if you ever have to use it at all. Nonetheless, this is still an improvement on the pre-911 system, which required people to remember the phone number of their local police or fire station.

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