911 service up and running on P.E.I. after issue that lasted for hours

P.E.I.'s 911 service the phone number for contacting emergency services such as police, fire and ambulance is operating once again following an hours-long service issue Thursday morning.

Justice and Public Safety officials with the province say the service failed around 2:45 a.m. AT after two lines went down. A little after 8:30 a.m., provincial officials said backup lines were in place and the system was operating.

Officials are working with the service provider to determine what caused the issues.

The first word that there was a problem with the service came in an RCMP email to media organizations at 6:24 a.m. The police force provided alternative numbers for Islanders to call in the event of fire, medical or police emergencies.

The public was directed to use those lines so that no calls would missed while a full diagnosis of the problem could be completed, according to a joint statement from Medacom Atlantic and the 911 Office.

Operators for 911 are not aware of any calls that were missed or otherwise affected during the service issue, which also affected some services in New Brunswick, the statement added.

Connection issues with phone service providers happen "from time to time," the statement said.When these issues do happen, Medacom Atlanticsaid, it has procedures in place to make sure emergency calls are answered.

"There is always concerns when 911 is down that anybody that needs a service will not be able to get in contact or might not know how to get a hold of them," said Allen Cole,fire chief atthe New London Fire Company

While the alternative numbers were posted on social media, he said there are many older Islanders who arenot using those platforms.

Going forward, Cole said it would be nice if the province could notify first responders when911 is down.He said he heard about the problems over Facebook, and by that time it was up and running again.

"If we're aware of it, we can also post it on our social media pages that the system is down," Cole said.