Software update causes DC 911 outage; city blames contractor – NBC4 Washington

Three days after D.C.’s 911 emergency system suddenly stopped working, D.C. blamed tech company

The power outage on Friday afternoon was caused by an incorrectly installed software update.

The 911 center and some D.C. police, fire and EMS users were unable to access the dispatch system for hours, the district said. During that time, the infant, who had suffered cardiac arrest, died.

DC said the update was not done as per standard protocol. The person is no longer in the district government.

D.C. often touts that its 911 center is the fourth-busiest in the nation. Last year, it received an average of one emergency call every three seconds.

When things happen like they did Friday, dispatch teams rely on paper and pencil, D.C. public safety officials said. That can be difficult in a city this size.

Dispatchers were unable to access the system for nearly two hours Friday. Some in the police and fire departments lost access for nearly six hours.

Friday’s outage was the fifth time the system has gone down since late May, according to veteran journalist Dave Statter. The D.C. 911 center would not confirm that number.

One of the outages last month was caused by a global outage of the Crowdstrike service.

The best emergency response may not have saved the child’s life, but there was at least some commotion on the radio. The first 911 call reporting a child in cardiac arrest came through at 12:53 p.m., just 13 minutes after the crash, with the dispatcher fumbling with a pencil and a notepad.

According to radio reports Friday afternoon, firefighters were performing CPR but wanted paramedics and an ambulance to attend to the baby. The dispatch center tried multiple times to send a paramedic, but there was none. They were still on another call.

The officials did not explain this either.

The 911 center director did not respond to questions from the News4 I-Team on Monday.

News4 sends breaking news by email. Click here to sign up and receive breaking news alerts in your inbox.