When one of your priorities is public safety, you recognize the importance of the nation’s 9-1-1 system – and celebrate the fact that it has been saving lives for half a century.

Chester County Commissioners Michelle Kichline, Kathi Cozzone, and Terence Farrell joined personnel from the county’s Department of Emergency Services in the county’s 9-1-1 Center this week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the system that has been the gateway between the public and emergency help since the very first 9-1-1 call was made in Haleyville, Ala., on Feb. 16, 1968.

The Commissioners also presented a proclamation to John Haynes, Chester County’s Deputy Director of 9-1-1 Operations at their public sunshine meeting this week, noting that “the digits 9-1-1 were selected 50 years ago because they were easily remembered, could be dialed quickly, and were never authorized as an office code, area code, or service code.”

[uam_ad id=”58459″]

Advertisement

Chester County introduced its 9-1-1 system in 1995.

“In 1994, there were 43 different phone numbers that Chester County citizens had to remember to reach emergency services, so the idea for one number to receive emergency services in the United States is incredible,” said Haynes.

More than 240 million 9-1-1 calls were made in the U.S. last year, with more than 160,000 of those calls made in Chester County.

[uam_ad id=”71799″]