Meadowrose: Thanks for dropping in to comment.
We didn't have 911 service in 1972, but it must have come soon after that.
I know that Wikipedia isn't perfect (it isn't even allowed as an online source for research papers in my kids' school), but according to that website the phone number became officially a national helpline in 1968 (and could not be used for other people). Being that 9-1-1 is funded locally means that the implementation of program would take longer to enact in some areas than in others. I'm guessing that major cities were the first to adopt and implement the system and then it filtered out to the less and less populated areas, depending on the resources said areas wanted to designate to the program. I know HERE (in my small rural town of 32K) we just voted to fund our EMTs for the next chunk of time (10 years, I think). I, personally, am one of these people who usually takes said services for granted and was shocked that it was still necessary to *vote* for funding for said programs. That's like asking voters whether we should pay for firemen and policemen. It's like a given in my mind. Apparently not around here. I guess that's why I'm still considered a "newbie" here after 10 years of residency.
Thanks for your comments.
