Statewide 911 Outage in Pennsylvania Raises Concerns — Officials Confirm Technical Glitch as Cause

Cameron County officials reported no major disruptions during Friday’s statewide 911 outage that affected many areas across Pennsylvania. Residents were directed to use the county’s non-emergency line at 814-486-1137 while the system was being restored. Emergency Management Director Laura Narby confirmed that first responders were able to reach everyone in need and that there were no significant incidents locally. The northern tier—including Cameron County—was labeled as the most stable region in the state in terms of handling 911 traffic during the outage.

On Friday afternoon, residents across Pennsylvania experienced intermittent disruptions in the state’s 911 emergency calling system, raising concerns about public safety and emergency response capabilities.

The outage began around 2 p.m. and lasted intermittently for several hours, with full restoration of service confirmed by midnight. During this period, some emergency calls, particularly in Delaware County and surrounding areas, either failed to connect or arrived without crucial caller information such as location data. Although the interruption was not a complete blackout, the sporadic failures affected a broad swath of counties across the state, prompting immediate action by state authorities.

Officials from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) identified the cause as a technical fault within the NextGen 911 system infrastructure. Managed by Comtech Telecommunications, this system represents the state’s upgraded emergency communication network designed to improve call accuracy and response times. The fault is believed to have originated from a hardware or software glitch, with no indication of sabotage, cyberattack, or system updates triggering the issue.

Upon detecting the problem, Comtech and PEMA swiftly coordinated to troubleshoot and mitigate the effects of the outage. To inform the public and ease potential strain on emergency lines, PEMA issued a Wireless Emergency Alert at approximately 3:25 p.m., urging citizens to utilize non-emergency numbers for non-urgent concerns and reserve 911 calls strictly for emergencies.

Governor Josh Shapiro emphasized the priority of public safety and transparency, noting that while the outage was concerning, the vast majority of calls were still successfully processed. “Our agencies and partners acted quickly to resolve the issue and are conducting a thorough review to prevent future incidents,” Governor Shapiro said.

In response to the outage, PEMA has launched an independent investigation to determine the root cause and to recommend enhancements to the NextGen 911 system’s reliability and resilience. This includes evaluating hardware and software configurations, improving monitoring systems for earlier fault detection, and strengthening vendor coordination protocols.

Residents are reminded that in the event of any future communication disruptions, alternative emergency contact methods and local non-emergency numbers are available and should be used when appropriate.

The swift resolution of Friday’s outage underscores the critical role of technology and preparedness in emergency response and highlights ongoing efforts to ensure that Pennsylvania’s 911 system remains robust and dependable.