This article in the Star Advertiser highlights the importance of having a big dog, hopefully one of the aggressive breeds and not a Lab which is friendly to everyone.  Because when seconds count, being able to call 911 in only hours away..  Need help, Call 911?  What a joke.  Better yet, get a big dog and a gun.

FROM THE STAR ADVERTISER JUNE 22, 2016

Technical problems caused intermittent communication problems with landlines and some cellphones serviced by Hawaiian Telcom on all islands. The problems occurred from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., with residents unable to call into any county police departments.

Even after Nishida Fry said the problem had been fixed, the Honolulu Police Department asked the public to limit 911 emergency calls.

Sarah Yoro, HPD spokeswoman, said if a 911 call fails, cellular telephone users may send a text message to 911.

“The text message should include the type of emergency service needed (police, fire or ambulance), the location of the emergency, and a brief description. Callers who send texts must enable location services on their mobile devices,” Yoro added.

The problem started about 6 a.m., according to Nishida Fry, and was cleared up by 9 a.m.

Services were fully restored at 2:20 p.m.

HPD only received one text message during the outage and it appears to have been an accidental text, according to HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu.

Nishida Fry added: “Hawaiian Telcom implemented a routing solution that reduced the volume of voice calls impacted.”

However, there is still some intermittent impact to voice calls statewide including the 911 system, she said.

At 11 a.m., the Honolulu Police Department said its 911 system still wasn’t fully operational, and not all emergency calls were connecting with police dispatchers.

“All voice calls were intermittently impacted,” said Nishida Fry of the three-hour outage. “Some calls could be made. Other callers got a busy signal or ‘all circuits are busy’ response.”

Internet and data services were not affected during the outage

Nishida Fry said: “Technical teams are engaged and monitoring the situation.”

Customers who continue to experience intermittent issues with voice calls can contact Hawaiian Telcom online at hawaiiantel.com/Support and select “Chat with Us” or “Submit Support Request” or call 643-6111, Nishida Fry said.

Technical problems caused intermittent communication problems with land lines, cell phone service and 911 operations on all islands serviced by Hawaiian Telcom.

Fry could not say how many Hawaiian Telcom customers were affected.

Maui County officials said any network issues with 911 calls were resolved before noon. “All 911 calls made to our Dispatch Center on both cellular and land lines are being received. This includes the islands of Molokai and Lanai. Any issues being experienced within the other counties has not affected Maui,” officials said.

During the outage, Hawaii County Police Department said persons in need of police assistance were advised that if they couldn’t reach the police department by phone, they should report to the nearest police station or flag down a police officer.

Kauai County officials said their 911 system was fully operational by 10:30 a.m.

I laughed out loud several times reading that. Absurd.

I didn't really think the Hawaii county advice to me was funny:

"During the outage, Hawaii County Police Department said persons in need of police assistance were advised that if they couldn’t reach the police department by phone, they should report to the nearest police station or flag down a police officer."

So a woman being sexually assaulted in her home is supposed to tell her attacker "Excuse me, but I need to report to the nearest police station"? How's she's gonna "flag down a police officer"? What a huge pile of fucking bullshit.

Thanks a lot for that advice. Keep up the good work.

Yes, I thought that was stupid advice.  It will take me 45 min to get to the nearest police station and I have driven from Volcano to Hilo and on to Kona, a distance of 107 miles,  several times, without seeing a single police officer.

During the outage, Hawaii County Police Department said persons in need of police assistance were advised that if they couldn’t reach the police department by phone, they should report to the nearest police station or flag down a police officer.

I want to know first, how did the police identify the "persons in need of police assistance," and secondly, what method was used to "advise" them of the alternative means of contacting police?  A radio PSA?  TV?  Emergency cell text through Civil Defense?

I have a feeling not everyone got the memo!

I live on the Big Island and was watching the morning news.  No announcement was made then and I did not get no text msg either, so you can remove those two methods from their so called "advised to".   How  is a homeowner who is barricaded in their home because someone is trying to forcibly enter, is supposed to drive to,the nearest police station or go hunting for a police officer driving around?  Just plain stupid advice.

I live on the Big Island as well, and saw no public notification anywhere. Not only that, but the Hawaii County Police Department, the Hilo station in particular, have both my email and phone number as I've emailed them many times (ahem) and called them numerous times as well (ahem ahem) and they have both emailed and called me back, and they neither called me nor emailed me to inform me that in an emergency, such as a criminal assault against me, that I needed to go to the police station for help. I wonder if any individuals actually had a "bad outcome" due to the system failure and ridiculous remedy advised? And if so, will we, the public, ever find out? Whatevahs.