Governor and Public Safety Officials Cite State’s E 9-1-1 Anniversary

11-20-2008

Governor Donald L. Carcieri and the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety today invited the leadership of emergency response units from across the state to the State House to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the state’s E 9-1-1 telephone system for emergency calls.

“With the inauguration of this system in 1988, Rhode Island became the first state in the nation to offer enhanced 9-1-1 emergency calling statewide,” Governor Carcieri noted. “The state-of-the-art enhancement was the ability to instantaneously display the telephone number and address of the incoming call in order to confirm the location and expedite the dispatching of appropriate emergency personnel. Today, Rhode Island is once again in the vanguard due to our ability to capture location information from wireless cell phones as well as traditional land lines and our residents benefit from this efficiency.”,

The vast majority of Rhode Island residents in need of emergency services call on cell phones. As of October 31, 2008, 72% of the emergency calls received this year were from cell phones. Thanks to E 9-1-1’s ability to track wireless call locations, emergency call takers can expedite the transfer of calls to appropriate local police, fire and rescue agencies.

“Rhode Islanders certainly can feel confident with the level of public safety response they receive as a result of our technologically advanced E 9-1-1 system,” noted Col. Brendan Doherty, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety.

The majority of public safety calls to 9-1-1 in Rhode Island, (68%) are prompted by the need for police. The second most common reason to call is for rescue personnel (26%) and the final category of call is for the fire department (6%).

All 9-1-1 calls in the state go to the E 9-1-1 Uniform Emergency Telephone System, where call takers speak with the emergency callers, determine the problem and the location, and transfer the call to the appropriate response agency.

Associate Director of the Rhode Island E 9-1-1 system, Raymond Labelle, cites the significant melding of technology and technique for the effective update of the system over the years. “Although our 9-1-1 technology is second to none in the country, the most important factor in our accomplishments has been the dedicated 9-1-1 staff that has seamlessly adapted to the changing technologies while providing the calling public with the latest in enhanced emergency communication services. Today, we celebrate our past accomplishments and recommit ourselves to improving public safety in today's more complicated and threatening world,” Labelle concluded.

Call takers at E 9-1-1 have answered approximately 8 million calls since the program began in 1988.