How old is 911

Explain that the emergency operator will ask them what, where, and who questions such as:. They should give the operator all the information they can about what the emergency is and how it happened. If they're old enough to understand, also explain that the emergency dispatcher may give first-aid instructions before emergency workers arrive at the scene. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size.

Talking About With Kids Everyone needs to know about calling in an emergency. When to Call Teach kids that a emergency is when someone needs help right away because of an injury or an immediate danger. For example, they should call if: there's a fire someone is unconscious after an accident, drinking too much, or an overdose of pills or drugs someone has trouble breathing, like during an asthma flare-up or seizure someone is choking they see a crime happening, like a break-in, mugging, etc.

In developing similar systems, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden have adopted as their uniform emergency number. Several of these systems are directed primarily toward the provision of emergency medical services. Other countries which have provided three or two-digit emergency number, either universally or for large population segments, include West Germany; Caracas, Venezuela, which developed its system in with the help of the United States; and Winnipeg, Canada, where the system has been in service since Canada is currently developing a national system utilizing and Australia has implemented throughout their country.

The first call to was placed in February of Thanks to , throughout the country, a call to can quickly connect you with the help you need.

Before that first call, individuals needed to dial local digit phone numbers to reach police, fire or emergency services. In , alone That same year in Colorado, close to 40 percent of the 5. In the Virginia suburbs outside of Washington D. A called made on a cell phone is transmitted through the nearest cell phone tower. Depending on your specific location, this tower could be in another town altogether, which means so could the dispatcher who picks up the call.

Using a computer the dispatcher must ask the network to find your location, and the tower is supposed to transmit back the information. The move to make cell phone calls more friendly and automatically transmit location gained traction s. But as more Americans started to jump on the cell bandwagon — today 70 percent of all calls are made from a cell phone — the deadline was pushed back again and again.

Then U. Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta, brought together telecommunications researchers, and public safety and transportation representatives, to devise a solution. This process involves a series of complicated technological and infrastructure upgrades as well as buy-in from wireless carriers, government agencies, and state and local authorities, not to mention a cacophony of telecommunication regulatory questions that are still being sorted out. Despite the numerous hurdles, rules crafted by the Federal Communication Commission FCC and by wireless carriers call for delivery of location data for 40 percent of cellphone calls by and 80 percent by Whether that transpires remains to be seen, as John Oliver so eloquently pointed out when he gave the system the once-over on his HBO show Last Week Tonight , in May