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Having 120 centers answering 911 calls, Tennessee is among the US states with the best emergency assistance.

A January 2026 report by an attorney-matching service, Law Bear, shows that Tennessee ranks #2 on the list of the US states with the fastest 911 responses. Researchers collected data on total annual 911 calls, the number of PSAPs, and average police, EMS, and fire department response times. Louisiana, which had slightly more calls (3.7 million vs. 3.6 million), with a slightly lower response time (4.8 minutes vs. 5.9), ranked first.

Rounding out the top five were Missouri, Massachusetts, and Kansas.

The time of arrival for every service was averaged to produce an Average Emergency Response Time for each state, highlighting the regions with the fastest emergency services.

Key Statistics for Tennessee

Total Annual 911 Calls: 3.6M

Number of PSAPs: 120

Police Response Time: 5.4 minutes

EMS Response Time: 7.1 minutes

Fire Department Response Time: 5.2 minutes

Average Emergency Response Time: 5.9 minutes

Tennessee ranks second among the states with the fastest 911 responses. Here, authorities take only 5.9 minutes on average to arrive at the place of the emergency. There are 120 dispatch centers in the state, nearly twice as many as in Louisiana, making help widely available.

It takes police officers and firefighters just over 5 minutes to reach the people in need, while paramedics arrive in just over 7 minutes. With roughly 3.6 million calls each year, Tennessee’s dispatchers stay busy, almost matching the pace set by Louisiana.

A spokesperson for Law Bear commented on the study:

“Fast emergency response times are only half of the patient care equation. What often goes unmeasured is what happens after that ambulance arrives at the hospital. Across the United States, “ambulance patient offload time”, the period EMS crews wait to transfer patients to hospital staff, is creating a hidden bottleneck in emergency systems. When ambulances are stuck at overcrowded emergency departments, they’re unavailable to respond to the next 911 call in their coverage area.”

See https://lawbear.com for more information.