Sen. Kim Ward used her social media platform on July 11, 2025, to share updates and information relevant to residents of Westmoreland County. The posts included local activity recommendations as well as important public safety alerts regarding a statewide emergency communications outage.
In a post at 19:00 UTC, Sen. Ward shared community event suggestions for the weekend, stating “Here are 5 Things to Do in Westmoreland County this weekend”.
Later that evening, at 20:22 UTC, she informed the public about an alert from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), writing “PEMA issued an alert warning of a statewide, intermittent 911 outage.
Westmoreland County is advising anyone who needs emergency responders and cannot get through to 911 to use the non-emergency phone number: 724-836-1551
We are in contact with PEMA and will keep you informed.”
At 22:34 UTC, Sen. Ward provided an additional update following a press conference by PEMA headquarters. She wrote “.@PEMAHQ just held press conference. There is still intermittent outages with 911 system.
For residents in Westmoreland County continue to use PEMA non-emergency phone number: 724-836-1551.
Residents please do not test system as PEMA works through this matter.”
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) coordinates state-level response during emergencies such as communication outages affecting public safety services like 911.
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