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 Telecommunicators 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.