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Cause of 911 outage still unknown

Posted at 5:16 PM, Feb 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-10 20:17:05-05
We all know 9-1-1 is the number to call when  there's an emergency.  But last week, that system went down for about six hours.   And we want to know how that can happen?  Contact 13 was already investigating problems with Metro's new 911 system before that outage.  And we're still on the hunt for answers. 
 
Last Tuesday, the life-line we all depend on failed.
 
Now, a full week later, we still don't know what caused the problem or what can be done to prevent it. 
 
LVMPD's 911 lines stopped ringing on Feb. 2 from about 3:00 to 9:00 p.m.  
 
For somewhere between 30 to 50 minutes, the system was simply dead; with callers either being dropped or getting a busy signal. When they finally got calls rerouted to Henderson and North Las Vegas, both cities saw much higher than normal call volumes. 
 
Contact 13 has learned several 911 systems across the country have gone down recently.   
 
We asked LVMPD what happened to ours? They tell us they should know the cause in the next couple days.  
 
We also reached out to Airbus Communications, the vendor behind the new 911 system. They told us last week they're investigating the outage, but no answers from them yet either. 
 
Last week, County Commissioner Steve Sisolak responded to our reports about families kept on hold as precious minutes ticked away during medical emergencies.  
 
That was long before the outage occurred. Sisolak told us staffing and funding is not the problem and he asked the sheriff for a full investigation.  So far, he hasn't learned anything new. 
 
When it's a matter of life and death, 911 is where you go for help.  
 
So we won't give up until we get answers.