A Brief History
On February 16, 1968, the first emergency 9-1-1 (we prefer 911) system was put into service in Haleyville, Alabama, a town of about 4100 people. Part of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) of telephone numbering systems, 911 is a rapid way for people to dial the police or emergency rescue services such as fire fighting or ambulance service. Covering the United States and Canada, 911 service is available in about 98% of all locations in these 2 countries.
Digging Deeper
In addition to connecting the caller with an emergency dispatcher, about 96% of the United States is served by an enhanced version of 911 that gives the emergency dispatcher the address of the caller. Unfortunately, with the widespread use of cell phones, the caller’s exact location often has to be communicated to the dispatcher for prompt emergency response. Other countries around the world have also instituted similar 3 digit calling for emergency help, though often with numbers other than 911. For example, the European Union uses 112, while in India 100 is the emergency number. In much of the former British Empire, the number 999 is used. Travelers would be well advised to find out the local emergency number of wherever they visit!
Prior to the introduction of 911, people would have to dial the police, fire, or ambulance telephone number directly or call the operator and ask for the department they need. Britain beat the United States by 31 years in instituting a nationwide emergency number when they put 999 into service in 1937. (What took the US so long to get on board?) Fire fighters in the US began a campaign of advocating for a universal fire emergency number in 1957, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, became the first North American city with such a system in 1959, originally using 999, but switching to 911 to conform to the US standard. When the United States Federal Government decided to institute the 911 system, the monolithic telephone company, AT&T was instrumental in making it happen.
Few US cities had 911 service until the 1970’s when the system started to spread across the country, and many others did not get 911 until the 1980’s. When the author was a police officer, we did not have 911 until the late 1980’s, and it was quite a change! Unfortunately, the change was not always for the good.
People often confuse 911 emergency only lines with dialing for “information,” (411), and often call 911 to ask non-emergency questions, such as the schedule for the next parade, when trick or treating is, or directions to this place or that. These non-emergency calls irritate and distract 911 emergency operators and can stall people having a genuine emergency in reaching a 911 operator. People calling 911 with non-emergency requests should not be surprised when the operator is sometimes a bit curt with them! In extreme cases, where people make repeated or harassing calls to 911 operators, the person making that call can be cited or arrested for misuse of 911. Obviously, the main cause of such calls are intoxicated people. People accidentally dialing the wrong number are another source of mistaken calls, and if you accidentally call 911, do not quickly hang up when the dispatcher answers, or you will likely get police responding to your location in a minute or 2! (And they will not be amused.) Just tell the operator you called by mistake. Children playing around or just being curious also results in many nuisance calls.
A more serious problem developed when our city instituted 911, and that was home telephone systems using cordless phones left off the base station mysteriously dialing 911 all by themselves when their battery ran down. This phenomenon resulted in many 911 “hang up” calls or calls in which the dispatcher could not hear anything on the phone, causing police to respond to the address and if nobody was home, breaking into the house to see what the emergency was, usually only to find out it was an equipment failure. The cops had to treat these calls in this manner, because sometimes someone calls 911 and cannot talk, passes out, or for whatever reason does not communicate the problem, so police response is mandatory.
Another 911 non-human call generator is pets, usually a dog or cat that knocks down a telephone and accidentally dials 911. Sometimes this problem results in cops smashing their way into a home when the family is away, or sometimes a startled and chagrined homeowner is confronted by wary police officers that insist on inspecting the premises to ensure that no real emergency exists. In a few cases, pets have “called” 911 when their owner really did need emergency help, a remarkable occurrence indeed. (Young toddlers have also made such life saving calls.)
When you are out and about and call 911 on your cell phone, you will be put in touch with a regional 911 center that serves that particular cell zone, and you will be asked which agency you need. If you do not know exactly which agency you need, they will ask you for your best description of your location and what the problem is. If your mobile phone is GPS capable, the 911 operator may be able to pinpoint your position using that feature. Otherwise, tracking down the exact location of a cell phone in an extreme emergency, if needed, may take a while. Knowing where you are is a good practice for everyone.
The 911 emergency telephone system has saved uncountable numbers of lives and has greatly speeded up emergency response. As a side benefit, 911 calls made public have provided an endless source of entertainment to the public in the form of drunken or particularly stupid calls, or just plain funny recordings. Other, more chilling calls have horrified listeners when the police release transcripts or recording of 911 calls of terrified people as they are being killed, or other horrible circumstances.
Question for students (and subscribers): Do you have any interesting tales of using or responding to 911 calls? If so, please share them with us in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Lucia Retired Dispatcher 160. 9-1-1 WHAT IS YOUR EMERGENCY? AuthorHouse, 2013.
Sprain, Diana. What is Your Emergency? The History of Public Safety Dispatching in America. CreateSpace, 2015.
