| John M. Eller |
9-1-1 Has Become
A Real "Life-Saver"
| John M. Eller has been Police Chief in Brookhaven, PA, since 1981. In addition to being a columnist for 9-1-1 Magazine, he is a certified Police Instructor, Consultant, Criminal Justice Instructor, Weekly Newspaper Columnist and Cablevision talk show host. |
This article can be found on
page 72 of the May/June 1998
issue of 9-1-1 Magazine.
It has been 30 years since the advent of 9-1-1. Much has changed in the technology behind the 9-1-1 system over the last three decades, but the heart of 9-1-1 has remained the unchanged - the provision of a nationwide, easy-to-remember number for people to call during an emergency, when there's no time to look up a local 7-digit number.
The concept of 9-1-1 was modeled after the 9-9-9 emergency number used in Great Britain since 1939. It was appropriate, since the American system of policing is also accredited to the British and the establishment of the Metropolitan Police Department by Sir Robert Peel in 1829.
The first 9-1-1 emergency call in the United States originated on February 16, 1968, from Hayleyville, Alabama. It came 35 days after AT&T designated the three-digit number for nationwide, universal emergency access.
Now, 30 years later, emergency response personnel take the 9-1-1 system as second nature. In this modern age of technology and computerization, the 9-1-1 telecommunicators are becoming professionals in their own right. The terms call-taker and dispatcher or telecommunicator are routinely used, but they are recognized as part of the same team - a team that receives, dispatches, and directs emergency service personnel to all types of incidents, and accounts for their status and safety while on scene.
Although all emergency response personnel are affected by changes in the 9-1-1 system, the most significant changes are for the telecommunicators themselves, and for the citizens they serve.
The nationally-telecast program, Rescue 911, has given these "behind-the-scenes" personnel quite a but of notoriety by showing emergency 9-1-1 telecommunicators at work. Francis X. Holt wrote, in the November-December 1992 issue of 9-1-1 Magazine, that "recent television exposure for dispatchers and 9-1-1 call-takers has gone a long way towards enhancing what had previously been a virtually unknown image for these hard working emergency communications professionals... Now, thanks to a new `emergency type' television show popping up on the networks and through independent syndicates every month, everybody knows who dispatchers are and thinks they know what they do."
Holt cautions, however, that television doesn't tell the whole story. "For one thing, most of what emergency communications folks do is routine, mundane, even boring. A few minutes of exciting highlights tends to misrepresent what happens for most of the 168 hours a week that communications centers are operating."
Holt's comments on the excitement generated by television is the same type of situation with the syndicated Cops program on the FOX network. The program only depicts the action sequences and not the routine and mundane side of police work. That's understandable - people like action and that's what they want to see. You'll never see a segment of Rescue 9-1-1 or Cops where nothing happens except abandoned 9-1-1 calls, burglary reports, and loud music events.
As a result of the advancement in technology, the quality of personnel and training has become paramount in the 9-1-1 process. Holt, this time in the May-June, 1992, issue of 9-1-1 Magazine, wrote that "the dispatcher is not only the first link in the chain of public protection; but also represents an electronic lifeline to field forces. Quality performance from your emergency communications force is critical to the overall success of the department." Former Associate Editor Gary Allen, citing the philosophy of the Corpus Christi (TX) Police Department in the January-February, 1992, issue of 9-1-1 Magazine, wrote that "you can throw all the technology you want at a public safety communications center, but if you don't have the dedicated and experienced personnel to operate it, it's just not going to succeed." Personnel and training is what makes 9-1-1 work.
Citizens are the beneficiaries of the 9-1-1 process. There are thousands and thousands of success stories, where peoples' lives have been saved through the speed and efficiency of the 9-1-1 system, the emergency dispatchers helming the PSAPs, and the emergency response personnel they direct to the scene.
I will share just one story from my own jurisdiction, Brookhaven, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. This too was reported in 9-1-1 Magazine, in the September-October, 1992, "People Places and Things" department. The mother of young Billy Moerr summed it up in these words: "God sent 9-1-1 to help save Billy," she said. "I do believe that if there hadn't been 9-1-1, I couldn't have dialed a longer number."
Just the same, it was fortunate that little Billy's mishap with a power pole didn't occur a few days earlier. The Delaware County 9-1-1 system had just gone "on the air" and Billy was their first life-threatening call. The Brookhaven youngster loved to climb trees but wasn't prepared for the 7,000 volt jolt he got when he touched the line in front of his house. The emergency services system swung into action, and fortunately everything worked out the way it was intended. Billy spent 18 days in the hospital and expected a full recovery. Officials wondered what the outcome would have been had this occurred just a few days before 9-1-1 went into service?
The citizens of America are the real winners with the 9-1-1 system. The technology, the dedicated telecommunications personnel behind the scenes, and the dedicated men and women working in emergency services are what makes it a success.
