NORTHFIELD — In reflecting on lessons learned during the statewide 911 outage in mid-June, town officials and emergency personnel say they hope to improve communication in the event of future service disruptions.

On June 18, a firewall intended to protect the Massachusetts 911 system from cyberattacks and hackers inadvertently took down the 911 system statewide, according to the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

When 911 is interrupted, Northfield’s emergency personnel staff the Fire Station, which serves as the go-between, connecting calls from the public for fire, medical and police emergencies to dispatch, according to Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III.

“It gives the townspeople just one number to call for fire, police or any emergency,” Dunnell explained.

However, on June 18, the phone numbers for police and EMS were also given out on social media, raising concerns as to whether Northfield had the staff to tend to all three phone lines if police or EMS had to respond to a call.

“The discussion was around having a system in place so that there was a central call center, which is what the fire chief was trying to do,” Town Administrator Andrea Llamas explained. “But some of that wasn’t necessarily communicated to the stations on the ground, so EMS put out their phone number, police put out their phone number for people to reach them.”

Dunnell added that he was not aware of the social media posts until well after the issue with 911 was addressed.

“The communication needs to be buttoned up,” Selectboard member Barbara “Bee” Jacque said while discussing the issue during an Aug. 6 meeting. “I think that was the lesson learned.”

Northfield uses CodeRED to notify the public of emergencies and give instructions by call, text, email or a combination, depending on user preferences. However, only those who have already registered to receive notifications will be reached.

Dunnell stated there are 1,200 contacts registered in the system, but because the same person’s phone number and email would create two separate contacts, he is unsure of the exact number of residents who are signed up for CodeRED alerts.

Selectboard members requested to be notified earlier in the event of emergencies, so they can manage communication with the public on social media and the town website.

“The town administrator, secretary … plus the Selectboard, are responsible for communication, on some level,” Jacque said, addressing Dunnell, “so … you are handling the emergency … not doing public outreach or communication at the same time.”

Member Sarah Kerns suggested offering proactive education for the community on what to do in the case of similar emergencies. She suggested creating posters explaining that residents should call the Fire Station when 911 is not available.

Dunnell noted he is thankful no emergency ended up occurring during the two-hour 911 outage, but that he would like to see better public communication in the future.

Northfield residents can sign up to receive CodeRED notifications on the town website at northfieldma.gov/subscribe.