District of Columbia Office of the City Administrator
08/19/2024 | Press release | Archived content
Statement from City Administrator Kevin Donahue on the Office of Unified Communications and 911 Response Plans
"Today we met with reporters to answer questions about the Office of Unified Communications and our 911 response plans. We also shared our plan for how we respond to 911 service disruptions and outages - and how we've learned from previous incidents, whether they were caused by human error or technological issues.
The most important message for us to get out to the public is that if you need help, please call 911. When you call 911, you will get connected to a call taker and we will get you the help that you need. We get a lot of 911 calls every day and that number has increased in recent years. If you call 911 and get a recorded message asking you to please hold until a call taker is available, please stay on the line and do not hang up! You will be connected to our call takers and first responders will be dispatched."