Millions of people were unable to call 911 last night due to a multi-state outage. If you can’t call to 911 what should you do?
Look for an alternative number
9-1-1 dispatch centers may have a couple numbers in addition to 911 that you can call to reach them. Look for alternative 10 digit number for emergencies or non-emergencies. You can find these numbers on the city/counties emergency management page, local police/fire/ems pages or on google maps.
Do not call 911 to check if it’s working!
If the system is already having problems don’t call just to see if it’s working or not. This will only make it harder for people having emergencies to get service.
Use a different phone/carrier
911 outages can be specific to your mobile carrier as well. The AT&T outage earlier this year left many people without service including emergency 911 calls.
If your call isn’t going through try someone else phone. An old phone without a sim/active plan may even work.
Text to 911
Larger counties began rolling out texting service for 911 years ago. Only about 20% of counties support it. If it is not available at your location your carrier is required to send a message back saying 911 text services are not available.
Use a land line phone or cellphone
Each outage is different sometimes landline phone calls may go through while cellphone calls will and other times it’s the opposite. If you can try it on a different style connection go for it.
Call the police/fire department/ambulance district directly
Try calling the service you need directly at their station. If the station can’t help they can relay the message via radio to 911.
Have the numbers beforehand
It’s a good idea to save the alternative phone numbers to your phone now before you need them. The last thing you need to be doing during an emergency is searching google or google maps for the emergency numbers.
If help isn’t coming
Do you have a first aid kit? Can you be self sufficient for a few days? Storms and disasters will come and emergency services will do their best but they are not a grantee. A little bit of disaster prep will go a long way if it’s ever needed.
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