In 1968, AT&T made the telephone number 9-1-1 available for use as a national emergency number. Since that time, 9-1-1 systems have grown and evolved and continue to do so today.
Some of the advantages of 9-1-1 are:
• 9-1-1 can be easily memorized and retained
• The numbers 9-1-1 can be easily dialed
• 9-1-1 benefits travelers and new community residents who may be unfamiliar with 7-digit telephone numbers to emergency service agencies
• It reduces the amount of time required to reach emergency services
The public expects and demands a high quality 9-1-1 service. St. Tammany Parish has a state-of-the-art 9-1-1 system that is led by a very progressive Board of Directors and managed by a very capable Administrative District Staff and operated by well-trained agency personnel. All 9-1-1 call-takers in St. Tammany Parish, are required to be certified through the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Institute as Public Safety Tele communicators within their first year of employment. This training includes 40 hours of classroom training and many more hours of on-the-job training in their respective agency, learning how to use the communications equipment, radio protocols and local policies and procedures.