User:Dcussick/Emergency service

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Not that long ago, if you had an emergency, you had to know the number for the nearest police and/or fire department which usually was busy. Knowing that a change was needed AT&T created the number 911 which has been in place ever since 1968. Since then the way we use 911 has also changed, today you are able to text 911 with a new system called Smart 911 technology. Emergency services would not be possible without fire and rescue teams, police departments, and EMS teams, those three groups are the backbone of emergency services.

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History of 911 over the years:

Not that long ago, if you had an emergency, you had to know the number for the nearest police and/or fire department. Not only that but the emergency number was often the same as the non-emergency number, meaning a busy signal was always a strong possibility. Needless to say, this made both reporting an emergency and responding to an emergency complicated. 911 was created because of this problem and on February 16, 1968, the first 911 call was made in Alabama. But it wasn’t for an emergency. It was for show, with the Alabama speaker of the House placing the call and giving the Alabama Telephone Company bragging rights as the first telephone service provider to implement the new system.

In consultation with the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T, a now popular wireless phone carrier, chose the 911 number and integrated the system into the company’s existing systems. The company selected 911 for three reasons: First, it’s short and easy to dial on a rotary phone. Second, the number 9 was not yet used as an extension. Third, the company had already developed numbers like 411, allowing them to use the same basic infrastructure to process and route 911. Congress backed AT&T's proposal and passed legislation allowing use of only the numbers 9-1-1 when creating a single emergency calling service, thereby making 9-1-1 a standard emergency number nationwide. A Bell System policy was established to absorb the cost of central office modifications and any additions necessary to accommodate the 9-1-1 code as part of the general rate base. 911 began to grow quickly, By the end of 1976, 9-1-1 was serving about 17% of the population of the United States. In 1979, approximately 26% of the population of the United States had 9-1-1 service, and nine states had enacted 9-1-1 legislation. At this time, 9-1-1 service was growing at the rate of 70 new systems per year. By 1987, those figures had grown to indicate that 50% of the US population had access to 9-1-1 emergency service numbers.

At the end of the 20th century, nearly 93% of the population of the United States was covered by some type of 9-1-1 service. Ninety-five percent of that coverage was Enhanced 9-1-1. Approximately 96% of the geographic US is covered by some type of 9-1-1.

General information of 911:

(From article)-Emergency services have one or more dedicated emergency telephone numbers reserved for critical emergency calls. In some countries, one number is used for all the emergency services (e.g. 911 in the Americas, 999 in the UK, 112 in continental Europe). In some countries, each emergency service has its own emergency number. Some fire departments provide emergency medical services along with their primary services. While majority of 911 users call there is now an option to text 911 in situations where you are unable to make a phone call. Text-to-911 is the ability to send a text message to reach 911 emergency call takers from your mobile phone or device. However, because voice calls to 911 provide more information to 911 call centers, you should always make a voice call to 911 during an emergency whenever possible. Due to the fact that Text-to-911 came out recently in 2014 the usage of it's service is only currently available in certain locations. The FCC encourages emergency call centers to begin accepting texts, but it is up to each call center to decide the particular method in which to implement and deploy text-to-911 technology.

In some cases, calling 911 is not needed, instead you can make a call to state police to report a non-emergency incident. Non-emergency incidents include, property damage accident, break-in to a vehicle when suspect is gone, theft of property (when suspect is gone), vandalism (when suspect is gone), panhandlers, intoxicated persons who are not disorderly or dogs barking or at large. By not calling 911 it leaves operators available to assist current emergency calls that need more immediate attention. People call 911 for all kinds of things that aren’t emergencies. Overflowing toilets. Dead batteries in a smoke detector. Barking dogs. Often, the 911 operator will simply ask the caller to redirect their concerns to a non-emergency number (or, you know, a plumber). But some municipalities will press charges for misusing 911. For example, in 2015, an Ohio woman was charged with a misdemeanor for calling 911 to complain about bad Chinese food.

911 today-

In 2020 the world faced a global pandemic that put emergency services to the test. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on emergency response and health-care workers nationwide as they respond to near unprecedented levels of calls for service, too often underscoring the limitations of 911 systems operating on phone calls alone.

On April 1 2021, Congresswoman Norma Torres (CA) and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), along with several of their colleagues, reintroduced the Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act of 2021, or the “9-1-1 SAVES Act.” If enacted, this bipartisan legislation would require the Office of Management and Budget to categorize public safety as telecommunicators Protective Service Occupations in the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC).

The SOC is maintained solely for statistical purposes. Public safety telecommunicators are classified as administrative/clerical in nature, which is inaccurate and a disservice to the lifesaving work and dedication of these professionals. Reclassification is about appropriately recognizing the critical, “protective” work public safety telecommunicators do every day. Additionally, including public safety telecommunicators in the Protective Service group would make the SOC a more accurate and therefore more useful statistical resource. The 9-1-1 SAVES Act is a simple, zero-cost legislative fix that has broad support from the 9-1-1 community and others familiar with their lifesaving work.

Across the country, text-to-911 systems have been on the rise, with about 188,000 texts sent in 2018, according to the National 911 Progress Report. Tech developments like these, and chat and video abilities, are the kinds of improvements users of 911 services have come to expect, experts argue.

Smart 911 Technology-

Smart911 is a national system that provides citizens with the ability to enter information that they want to make available to 9-1-1 telecommunicators through a secure website.

Information can include children’s photos, medical conditions, disabilities, home addresses of cell phone callers, or other rescue-related information. Smart911 delivers this information automatically with a 9-1-1 call to participating PSAPs. Smart911 enables emergency responders to be more effective because they have access to a rich source of critical health and logistics information before arriving at the scene of an emergency. Smart911 also supports the critical need to effectively capture and manage data for special needs citizens.

Police emergency services-

The first police department in the United States was established in New York City in 1844 (it was officially organized in 1845). Other cities soon followed suit: New Orleans and Cincinnati (Ohio) in 1852; Boston and Philadelphia in 1854; Chicago and Milwaukee (Wis.) in 1855; and Baltimore (Md.) and Newark (N.J.) in 1857. Those early departments all used the London Metropolitan Police as a model. Like the Metropolitan Police, American police were organized in a quasi-military command structure. Their main task was the prevention of crime and disorder, and they provided a wide array of other public services. There were no detectives.

Law enforcement operates primarily through governmental police agencies. There are 17,985 U.S. police agencies in the United States which include City Police Departments, County Sheriff's Offices, State Police/Highway Patrol and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies.

Law enforcement agencies are also involved in providing first response to emergencies and other threats to public safety; the protection of certain public facilities and infrastructure; the maintenance of public order; the protection of public officials; and the operation of some detention facilities (usually at the local level). Fire and rescue-

On January 27, 1678 the first fire engine company went into service with its captain (foreman) Thomas Atkins. In 1736, Benjamin Franklin established the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia. The United States did not have government-run fire departments until around the time of the American Civil War.

'''In 2015, 70% of firefighters in the United States were volunteers. Only 4% of calls regarded actual fires, while 64% regarded medical aid, and 8% were false alarms. '''

Firefighters work closely with other emergency response agencies such as the police and emergency medical service. A firefighter's role may overlap with both. Fire investigators or fire marshals investigate the cause of a fire. If the fire was caused by arson or negligence, their work will overlap with law enforcement. Firefighters also frequently provide some degree of emergency medical service, including certifying and working as full-time paramedics from engine, truck, and rescue companies in some systems to initiate advanced life support until ambulance transport arrives.

EMS-

Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. They may also be known as a first aid squad, FAST squad, emergency squad, ambulance squad, ambulance corps, life squad or by other initialisms such as EMAS or EMARS.

In most places, the EMS can be summoned by members of the public (as well as medical facilities, other emergency services, businesses and authorities) via an emergency telephone number which puts them in contact with a control facility, which will then dispatch a suitable resource for the situation. Ambulances are the primary vehicles for delivering EMS, though some also use cars, motorcycles, aircraft, or boats. EMS agencies may also operate a non-emergency patient transport service, and some have rescue squads to provide technical rescue services.