County Commission | The Magazine April 2018 | Page 36

NEWS YOU CAN USE
Celebrating 50 Years of
9-1-1
1957
1967
The very first 9-1-1 call was made in
Winston County, Alabama. State House
Speaker Rankin Fite placed the call
on a fire-engine red, rotary-dial
phone. For the special occasion,
U.S. Rep. Tom Bevill answered from
the Haleyville Police department.
1979
1968
A quarter of U.S. residents had
9-1-1 service. Service was
growing at the rate of 70 new
systems per year.
Half of the U.S. population had
access to 9-1-1 emergency
service numbers.
1999
9-1-1, which reached 93 percent
of Americans, was declared the
official national emergency calling
number by Congress.
36 | COUNTY COMMISSION
A single number for reporting
emergency situations of all types was
recommended by the President’s
Commission on Law Enforcement
and Administration of Justice.
Alabama was front and center
this spring when emergency
communications pros from around
the country gathered in the nation’s
capital to mark the 50th Anniversary
of 9-1-1. This universal number for
requesting emergency assistance got its start
at the local level – first in Haleyville, Ala.;
about a week later in Nome, Alaska; and
eventually springing up all over the country.
1987
2018
Sources: National Emergency Number Association, Federal Communications Commission
U.S. fire chiefs
called for a single
phone number for
reporting fires.
“The most essential fact is the most
basic one: 9-1-1 is the first place we call
when the unthinkable occurs,” said Federal
Communications Commissioner
Jessica Rosenworcel. “It’s true –
you may only call 9-1-1 once,
but it will be the most important
call you ever make.”
9-1-1 receives 240 million calls a year,
almost 80 percent from wireless
phones. Near blanket coverage of
the country is provided by more
than 6,000 separate public safety
answering points. Commemorations
of the 50th anniversary include
Haleyville’s annual 9-1-1 Festival and
temporary display of the red phone
from the first call at the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of American History.