1. Approximately 240 million calls come into 911 in the US every year.
2. 80% of calls come from cell phones.
3. Many major carriers have made it possible to text 911. However, unlike a call from a cell or landline phone, the call center may not be able to automatically tell where you are from a text. You may have to keystroke in your location, which takes valuable time. If you're at all able, place a voice call.
5. It's estimated that between 65% and 78% of us will call 911 in our lifetime. I placed two legit emergency calls, both decades ago. The first was when I smelled smoke in coming from the apartment downstairs from me, the second was when I stumbled upon a crime in progress.
6. I stupidly called 911 by accident in 2020. You can delve into what an idiot I was here. There are tens of thousands such calls every year.
7. I'm lucky that there were no ramifications for my dumb mistake. In 2015, an Ohio woman was arrested for calling 911 to report bad Chinese food.
8. The very first 911 call wasn't an emergency. It was a demonstration. The Speaker of the House in Alabama proudly placed it to establish Alabama as the first state to offer this life-saving service.
9. Texans place more 911 calls, per capita, than the residents of any other state.
10. AT&T originated 911 in 1968, and chose those numbers because "9" was not yet used as the first digit in any area code yet and "11" is easy to remember.
11. Most jurisdictions place each calls into one of three categories: POLICE, FIRE and EMS. The most calls are for medical emergencies, followed by police and then fire.
12. More calls come into 911 on 4th of July than any other day.
13. 911 is not the international standard, so before you travel abroad, check the procedures for the nation you're visiting. For example, in the UK, the emergency number for police is 999. Egypt has individual 3-digit numbers for police, fire and medical emergencies.
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