Pennsylvania experienced a statewide 911 outage on Friday, affecting emergency call services across multiple counties.
The issue is believed to have been caused by an IT problem with a third-party contractor associated with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA).
The outage began around 2 p.m., with reports of intermittent failures in 911 connectivity. Some calls were dropped, while others connected without providing location or caller ID information to dispatchers.
PEMA claims the cause was an issue with the state’s “Next Gen 911” system, managed by a third-party provider.
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Director Randy Padfield said during a press conference on Friday night, “This was originally detected with calls going into Delaware County 911 center. The next Gen 911 service provider immediately notified our 911 team and engaged to start troubleshooting the issue and identify the root cause of the issue.”
“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,” Padfield said.
Some parts of the Commonwealth continue to experience intermittent 911 outages, and we’re working hard alongside technical experts to get the problem fixed.
If you have an emergency, please call 911.
If your call is not delivered, use the seven-digit number provided by your 911… pic.twitter.com/prGUIS58Mm
— PA Emergency Management Agency (@PEMAHQ) July 12, 2025
At approximately 3:30 p.m., an alert was sent to phones saying, “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.”
Governor Josh Shapiro urged people in the state to “stay calm” in a post on X.
“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,” Shapiro said.
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…
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) July 11, 2025
Overnight on Saturday, PEMA announced that the system had been restored following full testing with counties. They stated on X, “An investigation into what caused intermittent outages will continue, and we will update you on that as soon as we can. Please do not call 911 for testing purposes; leave lines open for true emergencies.”
An investigation into the exact cause remains ongoing.
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