Emergency officials are urging residents across Pennsylvania to be aware of a widespread technical issue affecting the 911 system statewide.
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency confirmed that multiple counties, including Schuylkill, are currently experiencing difficulties with both calling and texting 911. The cause of the outage has not yet been released, but authorities are working with state and federal partners to restore service as quickly as possible.
Locally, Schuylkill County Emergency Management issued an urgent advisory Friday afternoon, stating:
“We have been advised that there are technical issues calling 911 throughout the state. If anyone is having trouble calling or texting 911, please call 570-628-3792 or 570-462-1991 for emergencies.”
These alternate numbers connect callers directly to the Schuylkill County Communications Center, allowing dispatchers to route emergency calls while the traditional 911 service remains impacted.
Residents are urged to share this information widely and to reserve the alternate numbers for true emergencies only. Officials recommend testing landlines or cell services only if necessary and to use caution when attempting to contact emergency services.
Further updates will be provided as more information becomes available regarding the outage and its resolution. In the meantime, local police, fire, and EMS services have manned their stations until further notice.