FLORENCE, Ky. — A massive, widespread outage on Windows computers continues to affect industries around the world. 

Airlines, banks, medical centers and other critical services people rely on are still playing catch-up after an antivirus update went wrong.

Emergency dispatchers have had to adjust on the fly in Boone County. Their efforts are keeping people safe despite the chaos of systems going down.

It wasn’t the first early call in Sharri Knipper’s career.

“About 3:30, I got the call this morning that our systems had been down," she said. "Our phone lines had been down."

When people in Boone County need emergency help, their calls go to the Boone County Public Safety Communications Center in Florence. However, the center was prepared for its own emergency situation, so when the 911 system went down due to the CrowdStrike update on Windows computers, calls shifted over to the backup center.

There was a disruption during overnight hours. For much of Friday, the non-emergency dispatch line was down.

Dispatchers, who typically have headsets, have also had to adjust to an analog system for taking calls.

“Now they’re answering through a landline, like the old-fashioned telephone, but they are answering the calls,” Knipper said. “We’re going to do what we have to do to ensure that the public gets served because that’s what we’re really concerned about, is our citizens.”

It's the reality dispatchers shared with people around the country Friday, as CNN business and tech correspondent Samuel Burke said.

“This is a really a stunning outage and even though they’ve dispatched a repair, the damage has already been done," Burke said. "The problem is the tentacles of CrowdStrike are really so deep in so many industries around the world." 

Despite the adjustments they had to make, Knipper said dispatchers have been able to do their jobs seamlessly, keeping people safe.

“We like to say that we are the 'first first responder,'" Knipper said. "We’re the first line of communication between the public and the first responder."

"I’m very proud, and I’m very humbled by the team I have behind me. I’ve been doing this job since 1989 and can’t picture myself doing anything but."

The non-emergency dispatch line in Boone County is now back up and running. The county administrator said no other county services have been affected.