CISA's communications sector page says emergency services rely on communications for resource direction, response coordination, public alerts and 9-1-1 call reception. So a failure in the communications sector can become a public safety problem. Planning starts by listing the links between a dispatch center and its carriers and power.
What CISA says
On the communications page, emergency services is listed as a key dependency, for coordination, alerts and 9-1-1 call reception. The page also says energy supplies power to cellular towers and central offices, and transportation supplies diesel for backup generators.
The emergency services page, by contrast, does not mention 9-1-1 or emergency call systems. It lists five disciplines: emergency management, emergency medical services, fire and rescue, law enforcement and public works. CISA is the sector risk management agency for emergency services.
The chain
A call leaves a phone, crosses a carrier, reaches a dispatch center, and sends a unit. Each link needs power. Each depends on software. A planner should write the chain down, link by link, and ask for each: what is the backup, and who tests it?
Questions for a dispatch center
- How many separate paths carry calls in?
- How long do the backup generators run, and who supplies the fuel?
- What happens to call taking if the computer aided dispatch system is unavailable?
- Who is on the contact list at each carrier?
Questions for software suppliers
- Do you publish an SBOM?
- How are security fixes delivered, and can they be tested before they hit production?
- What do you do when a component in your product has a known exploited flaw?
These are questions a buyer can reasonably ask. We have not fetched a standard that mandates them for dispatch systems.
Where Safeguard fits
Safeguard offers SBOM and dependency scanning and reachability analysis, which help a supplier answer the third question with evidence.
A simple way to test the chain
Pick one dispatch center and trace a single test call from end to end with the carrier's help, noting every system it crosses. Then ask what happens to that call if each system fails in turn. Most centers know the first two or three links well and the rest only vaguely. The vague links are where planning effort belongs.
It is also worth testing the fallback while people are fresh, not during a real outage. A fallback that only exists on paper has usually not been tried by the person who will have to use it.
Quick check
Does CISA's emergency services page mention 911?
No. The communications page does, in its dependency list.
Who is the SRMA for emergency services?
CISA, per its sector page.
Sources
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
