Emergency 911 systems go down in Pennsylvania leaving some residents to fend for themselves
The issue was initially reported via an emergency alert as a 'statewide intermittent 911 outage.' But during a Friday evening press briefing, Randy Padfield, the state's Emergency Management Director, said it isn't an outage.
According to CBS News Philadelphia, sources say it's a third-party company IT issue. The company is contracted with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.
Padfield said it's too soon to say what caused the issue, noting it could be a software or hardware problem.
The director said around 2 p.m. on Friday, a 911 service provider that handles network services for the state discovered emergency calls were intermittently failing to connect on the 911 network.
He added the problem was initially identified when entering the 911 center in Delaware County. The provider subsequently made PEMA aware, starting the work to resolve the issue in the state of 13 million people.
Soon, other counties began reporting the same problem, prompting an emergency alert to be sent to the public at about 3.30 p.m.
"Pennsylvania is experiencing a statewide intermittent 911 outage. Individuals experiencing issues contacting 911 are asked to contact their local 911 Center on their non-Emergency lines,' the alert stated.
"The system continues to have some intermittent connectivity issues at this point in time. They are still trying to troubleshoot," Padfield said on Friday evening.
During his most recent update, Padfield said it appeared that most 911 calls were going through, but he added that there were some 'intermittent issues' with the calls, such as some of the calls not having location or number data.
"Individuals should continue to use 911, and if they would call 911 for an emergency and the call is not delivered, they should use the backup seven-digit administrative line or follow the instructions of their local 911 center or public safety answering point," said Padfield.
'We are on top of the issue and working to restore full service as quickly as possible,' Governor Josh Shapiro said in a statement on X. '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.'
Some counties in the state are calling their residents to inform them about the outage, according to CBS News Philadelphia.
PEMA urged residents to check their county's social media outlets and websites for further information.
At the press conference in Harrisburg, Padfield said Pennsylvanians should still use the 911 system for emergencies, but if a call doesn't go through, they should follow the instructions from their local 911 center.
At 5.35 p.m., Allegheny County Emergency Services wrote on X that the 911 communications have been '100 percent back to normal operations, with no issues, for approximately 30 minutes.'
But it added that intermittent issues remain a statewide problem.
'We have been in constant coordination with all of our county partners and PEMA while they troubleshoot,' they said.
"At this point, we don't believe this was caused by a cyberattack or a software update," Padfield said. "It could be a software glitch, a hardware failure, or something outside the network. What we know is that it's sporadic and intermittent, and our vendor has all technical experts engaged."
"The system has performed flawlessly through severe weather and high call volume situations," he added. "This issue is an anomaly, but we are taking it seriously."
Pennsylvania emergency numbers by county
Philadelphia County: 215-686-8686 / 311
Chester County: 610-436-4700 / 610-344-6456
Bucks County: 215-328-8500 / 215-357-8700
Delaware County: 610-565-6575 / 610-891-5200
Montgomery County: 610-635-4300
Northampton County: 610-759-2200
Lehigh County: 610-437-5252 / 610-437-7751
Berks County: 610-655-4911
Allegheny County: 412-473-3056
Armstrong County: 724-548-3431
Beaver County: 724-775-1700
Butler County: 724-282-1221
Cambria County: 814-472-2100
Clarion County: 814-226-6631
Fayette County: 724-430-1277
Greene County: 724-627-5387
Indiana County: 724-349-9300
Lawrence County: 724-656-9300
Mercer County: 724-662-6110
Somerset County: 814-445-1525
Venango County: 814-677-0325
Washington County: 724-229-4600
Westmoreland County: 724-836-1551
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