Pennsylvania is experiencing “intermittent” statewide 911 outages, officers confirmed on Friday.
Pennsylvania Emergency Administration Company (PEMA) Director Randy Padfield mentioned the intermittent connectivity points are affecting the Subsequent Era 911 community statewide, with some calls going via usually whereas others lack important data like location coordinates or callback numbers.
The issues started round 2 p.m. when 911 calls to Delaware County’s dispatch heart began failing sporadically, prompting an instantaneous investigation by the state’s service supplier.
“This isn’t a full outage, however an intermittent challenge,” Padfield mentioned. “We’re treating this with an abundance of warning.”
The state has activated a convention bridge with all public security answering factors (PSAPs), PEMA workers, and 911 system distributors to observe the scenario. Officers have issued each a Wi-fi Emergency Alert and an Emergency Alert System message to tell the general public.
Padfield mentioned residents who cannot attain 911 ought to name their native seven-digit emergency quantity, the place dispatchers are standing by to help.
Whereas technicians work to determine the basis trigger, Padfield mentioned they do not consider it was brought on by a cyberattack or software program replace. The system, which incorporates a number of layers of redundancy, “has carried out flawlessly via extreme climate and excessive name quantity conditions,” he famous.
Officers urged the general public to not take a look at the system with non-emergency calls, as every hang-up requires investigation by 911 facilities.
