DLNews Law Enforcement:

Emergencies can strike unexpectedly, but being confident in reaching out for help is crucial. Whether it's a natural disaster, power outage, or any other unexpected event, you'll be well-prepared to navigate the situation and get the needed assistance. With this knowledge, you can confidently handle any emergency that comes your way.

There have been two 911 outage alerts in the last 48 hours, which have affected East Riverside County and caused inconvenience to the public. However, emergency services ensure that they are well-equipped to handle such situations.

When a caller dials 911, a dispatcher is immediately connected to fire, medical, and police responders, who are directed to the caller's location. The call taker may ask questions and communicate with the response teams to provide them with relevant information about the situation. This may require the caller to remain on the line to provide additional information.

Local departments usually post direct lines on their websites and social media pages to help people in an emergency. However, if these numbers are down, one can use the Rescu app to send a message that will instantly be sent to the local fire, police, and medical departments.

The Rescu app is backed by a UL-certified Dispatch Center, which operates separately from the 911 emergency number system and is available 24/7. Additionally, the app allows users to add emergency contacts who will be instantly notified when they send an alert.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is working on a Third Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to harmonize its rules to help Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) receive actionable notifications of network disruptions that impact 911 service. The FCC believes that uniform information elements in outage notifications will reduce confusion at PSAPs and increase the utility of these notifications to the public.