...9-1-1...What is your emergency?

If you've ever had an emergency, hearing the operator speak those simple words can mean relief. Dialing 9-1-1 connects you to the police station, fire station or emergency medical personnel or sometimes all three, depending on the nature of the emergency. Whatever the circumstances, the right professionals are on the way to help with just one phone call. But this system wasn't always in place.

The first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system became operational on February 16, 1968 in Haleyville, Alabama. Based on the British 9-9-9 system, it provided a single, easy-to-remember number that could reach all emergency services for the Haleyville area. The truly fascinating part of this set up is that once the plans were finalized, it was installed in less than one week.

Bob Gallagher, president of Alabama Telephone, an independent telephone company, discovered plans by the Federal Trade Commission and AT&T to build the first 9-1-1 system in Huntington, Indiana. At the time, AT&T held a monopoly on phone services and the smaller, independent companies were not even consulted about the program. Annoyed by this, Gallagher decided to circumvent the FTC's plans and began working closely with his inside-state plant manager, Bob Fitzgerald, to design and engineer the required circuitry.

Published in the "Daily Northwest Alabamian" 

on Sunday, Feb. 18, 1968

State Rep. Rankin Fite placing the first-ever 

911 call from the mayor's office.

Mayor James Whitt sits behind him.

Working around the clock with four technicians, they successfully installed their system before AT&T and the first 9-1-1 call was placed by Alabama Speaker of the House, Rankin Fite. Congressman Tom Bevill was on the receiving end of that call.

When it was first started, the system was able to connect residents to the police department and other emergency services but a person was still needed to explain who you were, where you were and what emergency your call was regarding. Today, technology has led us to the enhanced 9-1-1 emergency system. This system tells the operator who owns the number where the call is being placed and the address associated with that number. If it is a cell phone, new technologies are making it easier for emergency services to locate the caller through cell towers and satellite GPS location.

The advances in this system are astounding but the biggest benefit has been the reduced response time. Someone who is unable to speak, perhaps suffering from a stroke or heart attack, can still call for help and an ambulance can be on its way, saving precious minutes that would otherwise be lost trying to determine the callers location and emergency. Home security systems triggered by smoke detectors or break-in indicators can automatically dial 9-1-1 and initiate emergency services without the help of a human being at all.

I don't remember ever having to call 9-1-1 – for which I am immensely grateful – but I like the peace of mind that comes from knowing that no matter where I am or what I need, someone on the other end of the telephone will be there to help me out.