Pennsylvania experienced a statewide 911 outage Friday afternoon, with an alert from the state’s emergency management agency warning of an intermittent outage.

“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. Check your counties social media and website for more information,” an alert from Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said.

“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. Please only call 911 for true emergencies. Do not call just to check whether it is working,” the PA Emergency Management Agency said.

“If you can’t get through and need emergency response, call your local 911 office directly,” it added.

CBS News provided further details:

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CBS News Philadelphia sources say this is an IT issue with a third party company contracted through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

Pennsylvania county managers are meeting currently to discuss the problem. Gov. Josh Shapiro also urged residents to stay calm, adding that the state is working to restore service quickly.

The alert was sent to people throughout the state, including CBS News Philadelphia and CBS News Pittsburgh staffers, at around 3:30 p.m.

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

“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,” he added.

ABC News noted:

The Philadelphia Police Department said the outage is “intermittent” and that “some calls are still successfully going through.”

The outage may impact that the ability of some residents to reach emergency services through the traditional 911 system, police said.

If residents are unable to reach 911, police urge residents to call their local Philadelphia Police District directly.

 

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