DILG: 911 hotline boosts emergency response times

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Monday that the country’s Unified 911 Emergency Hotline has achieved a 97.23 percent efficiency rate since its launch last year, significantly speeding up response times for road accidents and other critical incidents.

The agency said the system aligns with a directive from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to modernize public safety and emergency preparedness across the country.

The hotline coordinates directly with local government units, the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Fire Protection, emergency medical teams, and hospitals to rapidly dispatch first responders.

Interior officials pointed to two recent road accidents to illustrate the system’s operational speed. In Butuan City, a swift 911 dispatch following a collision between a bus and a jeepney allowed responders to quickly transport six injured passengers to nearby hospitals.

In San Juan, La Union, emergency teams arrived at the scene of a separate traffic accident within three minutes of the call, administering first aid to five injured individuals before transferring them to Bacnotan District Hospital.

The DILG stressed that immediate medical intervention during the “golden hour” of a road accident often means the difference between life and death.