Pennsylvania experiencing statewide 911 outage
Pennsylvania’s 911 system is currently experiencing intermittent outages across the state, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency posted to social media Friday afternoon. The statewide alert also went out to mobile phones, warning residents of the outages.
“The 911 system in Pennsylvania is having some outages across the Commonwealth. We are working with technical experts to resolve the issue and restore service as quickly as possible,” the 12:46 p.m. post reads. “Please only call 911 for true emergencies. Do not call just to check whether it is working. If you can’t get through and need emergency response, call your local 911 office directly.”
Roughly ten minutes later, Gov. Josh Shapiro also took to social media to console residents.
“We are on top of the issue and working to restore full service as quickly as possible. In the meantime — stay calm, follow the directions of PEMA and local authorities, and do not call 911 for any reason other than an emergency. Updates to follow,” Shapiro’s post reads.
The source of the outage is unclear.
A recent report by the emergency tech firm Carbyne paints a troubling picture of the nation’s 911 system, highlighting a growing wave of outages and cyberattacks, along with an outdated infrastructure that threatens public safety. The report shows that nearly 90% of emergency communication centers across the U.S. experienced at least one system outage in the past year caused by aging equipment or cyberattacks.
