Nashville 911 Exceeds National Call-Answering Standard During Historic Fourth of July Weekend

As Nashville hosted a historic two-day celebration marking America’s 250th anniversary of independence, Nashville 911 personnel handled 7,438 calls across emergency and non-emergency lines while exceeding the national standard for answering 911 calls.

The operation followed months of coordinated planning between the Department of Emergency Communications (DEC), Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, Metro Nashville Police Department, Nashville Fire Department and EMS, and other partners.

Between Friday, July 3, through Sunday, July 5, DEC received 4,503 calls to 911, an increase from 2025. Despite the higher call volume, first first responders at Nashville 911 answered 90% of 911 calls within 10 seconds, exceeding the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) standard of answering 90% of calls within 15 seconds.

Throughout the weekend, several members of DEC’s elite Nashville Telecommunicator Emergency Response Team (NTERT) supported special operations, including law enforcement initiatives and police, fire and EMS activity within the entertainment district. Tactical dispatchers coordinated several hundred event-related responses, including medical calls, reports of lost children and police matters.

“I’m honored to work alongside such an amazing team!” said DEC Interim Director Patrice Coleman. “The July 4 holiday is historically one of the busiest days of the year for DEC. From answering phones and dispatching field responders, along with NTERT working commands to ensure field responders had what they needed within their footprint, the team showed a high-level of dedication through the entire holiday weekend.”

Nashvillians also helped keep emergency lines open by using hubNashville for non-emergency concerns. By using hubNashville instead of calling 911 for these concerns, residents helped keep emergency lines available for people relying on 911 as a lifeline.