Can a phone with no service cal 911?

My old phone still has the emergency call menu even though the phone call button is disabled.
I haven't tested it yet.

I really wonder if most of the people who post in this thread are retarded or if I just have a different understanding of "no service". To me "no service" means, your phone can't get a signal and therefore can't connect, thus making it impossible to call anyone.

If he really just means your phone doesn't have any money on it (in case you have prepaid or something) or you just switched it on and can't log in with your pin or whatever you use...I really wonder if it's normal for English-speaking people to call it "no service".