In July 2015, a New Mexico 911-dispatcher hung up on a panicked caller after becoming
annoyed with the caller’s tone.
The mishandled call was made public, and many have been asking: how often do 911 calls go
wrong?
And what actually supposed to happen when you call 911?
Well, in the U.S., the now-ubiquitous 911 emergency number was only established in the
late 1960s.
Originally, you would have to call different local numbers to reach various emergency services.
Callers would even have to wait for an operator to connect them manually before the widespread
usage of rotary and dial phones.
In the 50s, fire and police departments petitioned the government for one simple and universal
emergency number to help expedite their services.
In 1968 such a number was established.
The digits “9-1-1” were chosen because they were unique, and had never before been
assigned.
Today, nearly all phones have basic 911 call capability - even if the phone carrier service
is disabled.
This is because of the 1996 Telecommunications Act which mandated that all wireless carriers
must transmit all wireless 911 calls without respect to their call validation process.
Basic 911-service puts a caller through to the nearest available “Public Safety Answering
Point," where a dispatcher relays information to the appropriate emergency department.
Most cities also utilize an “enhanced 911-service," which will automatically display the location
of the caller to the dispatcher.
Dispatchers usually operate out of police or fire stations, and are available 24/7.
Even during power failures, operators stay online and operational, using backup generators.
But the 911 system isn’t perfect.
For instance, mobile and internet phones present special challenges because they aren’t fixed
to one location like landlines.
Some cellphones have GPS services, but many dispatchers say that location information
is still often inaccurate.
With 70% of 911 calls placed on wireless phones, this becomes a huge problem for dispatchers.
Prank-calling is also a huge issue for 911 services, resulting in a waste of responders’
time and effort.
In California, the penalty for 911 prank-calling is a fine of $10,000 dollars and even possible
jail time.
Ultimately, the 911 system is still evolving and improving in order to best meet the nation’s
growing needs.
The service prevents untold numbers of death and injury every year.
Many 911 emergencies are caused by America’s prolific use of guns.
To find out why America has so many firearms, check out our video on the subject.
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