It’s estimated that 911 is called 250 million times every year in the U.S., which is almost 700,000 calls per day.
But have you ever thought about what you would do if no one answered?
In April 2024, several cities in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Nevada (including Las Vegas) reported emergency phone outages.
In Nebraska, cities asked residents to dial different non-emergency phone numbers.
A county in South Dakota said…
“Pennington County 911 is getting inundated with 911 calls from residents who are ‘testing the system.’
While the calls themselves aren’t connecting, dispatchers can still see who is attempting to call and the phone number from the caller.”
The statement continued…
“Each 911 attempt is getting a call-back from dispatch, however, the workload generated from unnecessary calls is hampering their efforts to get appropriate resources where they need to go.”
Residents in Las Vegas were told to text 911 instead of calling.
But officials in Las Vegas also reported that 911 systems were inundated with people who were testing the system to see if 911 still worked.
Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, activated a multi-agency coordination center.
They also set up an alternative phone number for 911, but it was not used.
The cause of the widespread outage was determined to come from a company called Lumen Technologies.
The telecommunications company is based in Louisiana and said the outage was due to a third-party company that was installing a light pole.
The one accident cut 911 services to millions of people in different states.
It’s frightening that a critical, emergency services telephone line can be taken down by cutting a single line.
But, like much of the infrastructure in the U.S., our 911 telecommunications are aging.
What occurred in Las Vegas won’t be the last time that 911 systems fail.
