It’s known to dial 9-1-1 in case of an emergency, but do you know where it came from? In 1957, the National Association of Fire Chiefs proposed the idea that a single number be used to report all fires. With this in place, people were required to call different numbers depending on the emergency – i.e. fire was one number, police another, etc. In 1967, it was determined that this was counterproductive, so one single number for all emergencies was established. The Federal Communications Commission worked with AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph Company) to quickly establish a universal emergency contact number. Thus, 9-1-1 was born. The first 9-1-1 call was made on February 16, 1968 in Haleyville, Alabama. Prior to the 9-1-1 system, all emergency calls would be forwarded through O for operator.

For more information, or to see where we got this information, check out: Nena.org (National Emergency Number Association)