Pennsylvania 911 outage: What you need to know

(WHTM) — The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency says it is continuing to troubleshoot “intermittent” issues with the statewide 911 system after residents statewide were notified of an outage Friday afternoon.

The outage caused residents across the state to receive this message on their cellphones. Emergency notifications were also issued on television and radio stations across the state.

In a Friday evening briefing, Randy Padfield, PEMA director, urged Pennsylvanians to “continue to use the 911 system to be able to call for emergency situations.”

“We still want them to utilize the 911 system. If the call does not go through or the call drops for some reason, follow the instructions provided by your 911 center,” Padfield said. “I want to stress, these were intermittent issues,” Padfield said.

He said the issues were first detected in Delaware County, near Philadelphia, around 2 p.m. when some calls to 911 weren’t being delivered to the communications center. Troubleshooting has been underway ever since and the issue, he said, is with the NextGen 911 service the state utilizes, but the root cause has yet to be identified.

“Currently, our teams are engaged with the 911 centers and NextGen 911 service provider monitoring the system,” Padfield said.

At last check, he said the majority of calls were being delivered, though some calls are lacking additional data that the NextGen 911 system delivers, like the caller’s location and callback number.

“This is more of an anomaly for us and the NextGen 911 system,” Padfield said, noting that the system has worked “flawlessly” through severe weather events and more.

“We want them to have confidence that the 911 centers are prepared for this,” Padfield said.

He stressed that, if you have an emergency, call 911 first. If you can’t get through, call your county’s non-emergency line. Padfield also stressed that residents should not call 911 as a test.

Padfield’s full comments from Friday evening can be viewed below.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has been briefed, and PEMA is in constant contact with the Governor, Padfield said.

Shapiro shared the following earlier Friday:

“I have been briefed by @PEMAHQ on the intermittent 911 outage currently happening in some parts of Pennsylvania. 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.”

If you need emergency assistance, you can contact the following county non-emergency lines.

• Adams: 717-334-8101 or 717-624-2101
• Cumberland: 717-243-4121 or 717-238-9676 or 717-532-8878
• Dauphin: 717-558-6900
• Franklin: 717-263-1611
• Fulton: 717-485-0503
• Juniata: 717-436-2600 or 717-436-7770
• Lancaster: 717-664-1180 or 717-664-1190
• Lebanon: 717-708-2746
• Mifflin: 717-248-9607
• Perry: 717-582-4311
• York: 717-854-5571
• Bedford: 814-623-1105
• Berks: 610-655-4911
• Blair: 814-940-5910
• Bucks: 215-328-8500
• Cambria: 814-472-2100
• Carbon: 570‑325‑9123
• Centre: 1-800-479-0050
• Chester: 610-436-4700
• Columbia: 570-784-6300 or 570-784-7911
• Huntingdon: 814-643-6820 or 800-373-0209
• Lawrence: 724-656-9300
• Lehigh: 610-437-5252 or 610-437-7751
• Luzerne: 570-819-4916
• Mercer: 724-662-6110
• Monroe: 570-992-9911
• Montgomery: 610-635-4300
• Montour: 570-784-6300 or 570-784-7911
• Northampton: 610‑759‑2200
• Schuylkill: 570-462-1991 or 570-628-3792
• Somerset: 814-445-1525

A statewide list of county communications center contact numbers is available at the PEMA website here.

In the meantime, fire companies statewide have manned their station and, in some areas, you can call or visit your local firehouse if you need assistance.

According to PEMA, Pennsylvania’s 911 centers process nearly 14.5 million requests for emergency services annually.