FRANKLIN TWP. (Hunterdon County) – It was 40 years ago on Wednesday that the Hunterdon County Division of Communications began answering 9-1-1 calls, becoming the first in the state to do so.
The Communications Center had first “gone live” on June 23, 1976.
Back on Feb. 1, 1977, operating out of a four-room farmhouse, it became the first county-wide agency responding to 9-1-1 calls in New Jersey. At the time it was the only agency handling all emergency calls through a single centralized communications center.
“Public safety is at the center of our responsibilities as elected officials,” said Freeholder Director John Lanza. “The communications center has successfully adapted to the needs of our communities as we’ve grown and to the ever-changing technology needed to best serve our residents and businesses.”
First announced in 1968 by AT&T, by 1976, 9-1-1 was serving about 17-percent of the people living in the United States, according to the National Emergency Number Association. Perabet Today, 96-percent of the nation has 9-1-1 coverage.
Hunterdon County 9-1-1 answers over 30K calls
Hunterdon County’s communication center handled 37,844 calls to 9-1-1, and dispatched over 186,000 calls for service, in 2016.
Today, it is a division of Hunterdon County Department of Public Safety and continues to provide emergency dispatch for all municipal police, fire and EMS in the county from a 7,500-square-foot facility. It now also supports text-to-9-1-1.
The center also assists with communication between State Police barracks, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, sheriff’s department, county courts, parks and recreation rangers, Medical Examiner’s Office, Hunterdon Medical Center paramedic units and the county Health Department.
“To fully understand the enormity of the task that Dispatchers have and the professionalism they bring to the job, you must hear the very real examples of the tension and panic that often accompanies a 9-1-1 call and the cool, reassuring voice of our Dispatcher as they coordinate the required response,” said Deputy Freeholder and Liaison to Public Safety John King. “County wide Communications has been a clear success here in Hunterdon.”
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