A Little Bit of History of 9-1-1

In 1957 the National Association of Fire Chiefs made a recommendation for a specific number to be designated for reporting fires.

In 1967, the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice decided that a single number was needed for calling in emergencies that could be used by everyone. Originally, it was suggested that a different nationwide number for each different type of emergency could be used, however, that idea was discontinued because a single number for ALL types of emergencies would be easier to remember.

In November of 1967, the FCC and AT&T got together and discussed the need for a nationwide emergency number and that one needed to be selected in a rapid manner. They knew it had to be a number not already being used as an "exchange" or area code.

On January 12, 1968 AT&T announced to the country that 9-1-1 would be the nationwide number that would be used for all types of emergencies as it would be easy to remember. Congress agreed and passed a law to that effect. It was determined that the costs of updating the telephone companies' equipment would be offset by a fee that would be included in the subscriber’s telephone bill.

On February 16, 1968 Alabama Telephone Company became the first telephone company to implement 911. The first 9-1-1 call was placed by Senator Rankin Fite in Haleyville, AL.

Nome, Alaska begins using the 911 service on February 22, 1968.

In March of 1973 a national policy was established by the Executive Office of Telecommunications recognizing the benefit as well as importance of the 9-1-1 system to a growing population. The black House begins encouraging the use of the new emergency number and creates a Federal Information Center to assist in the planning and implementation of 911.

Early 1970's Alameda County, CA becomes the test area for a new pilot program introduced by AT&T called 'selective call routing'. This is how "Enhanced-911" began.

17% of the U.S. has 911 service by late 1976.

In 1976, more than 25% of the United States has the 911 service. Nine states have legislation enacted for the emergency number. Since then 70 new 911 systems are established every year.

In 1987, 50% of the population has 9-1-1 available to them.

Today, almost the entire country has 9-1-1 access and more than 3/4 of that is enhanced 911.

The idea of dialing a universal number for emergencies originated in Great Britain in 1937. 9-9-9 was used to reach a central operator who would contact the appropriate emergency agency. In fact, the very first "real" emergency call using their emergency number of 9-9-9 occurred on July 8, 1937 at 4:20 a.m. when John Stanley Beard of 33 Elsworthy Road, Hampstead, London discovered a burglar outside his house. His wife dialed 9-9-9. Police arrived within five minutes and captured the burglar.

Other emergency numbers used throughout the world are:

Australia 0-0-0 Belgium 9-0-0 Brazil 1-9-0 Canada 9-1-1  (1987) France 1-7 Germany 1-1-0 Greece 1-0-0 Iceland 0-1-1-2 Israel 1-0-0 Argentina 1-0-1

Italy 1-1-2 Jamaica 1-1-9 Japan 1-1-0 Mexico 0-8-0 New Zealand 1-1-1  (1958) Poland 9-9-7 Spain 5-3-2 Sweden 9-0-0-0-0 and 1-1-2 Thailand 1-9-1 UK 9-9-9