DILG says emergency hotline 911 resumes operations

September 30, 2020

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday announced that the Philippine Emergency Hotline 911 has resumed operation after a brief hiatus after several emergency telecommunicators (ETCs) were infected with COVID-19.

It was earlier announced that Emergency 911 calls from the National Call Center were temporarily rerouted to eight local call centers when five ETCs tested positive for COVID-19.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the problem was further aggravated when 20 more detailed personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection tested positive for the COVID-19 virus causing further delay in the resumption of the regular operations.

Año thanked the public for their kind understanding of the problems faced by the Emergency 911 Hotline.

“We are pleased to announce that the E911 hotline is now back to its normal operations,” he said.

To keep the E911 operations going, E911 Executive Director Diosdado Valeroso said the National Call Center had to be disinfected twice and a Work from Home team dubbed as Team Mabini was formed and activated.

“We have currently four teams: Team Lapulapu, Team Rizal, Team Bonifacio, and Team Tandang Sora with 18 ETCs each who work round the clock on a 24-hour work shift due to transportation issues,” Valeroso said.

The E911 hotline is a DILG-run security and development program that provides response and emergency assistance to people in distress.

Calls coursed through this number include those that require police assistance, fire reports, emergency medical assistance, search and rescue, and even those that concern chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) materials. Ella Dionisio/DMS