WESLACO – Local residents now have the option to text emergencies to 9-1-1.

Brooke Velarde Hernandez, who is deaf, says her cell phone is limited to FaceTime and text messaging since she can’t make a voice call.

Hernandez says after a car accident she saw the importance of text to 9-1-1 in the Rio Grande Valley.

"In an accident there was a hearing driver, I myself am deaf and I couldn't communicate so I had my mobile phone with the Sorenson app I pressed it with the operator,” she says.

Before the texting feature, deaf, hard of hearing, or non-verbal residents had to use different apps to contact the emergency services.

Lower RGV Development Council Director of Public Safety, Manuel Cruz, says this is another added feature to the 9-1-1 system.

“The first priority is to make a 9-1-1 direct call versus a text, only use the text to 9-1-1 when you cannot dial," he says.

To use the system, residents must draft a text and enter 9-1-1 in the 'send to' field and state the emergency and location in the text area.

For more information watch the video above.