TOULON, Ill. — Residents in every Illinois county can now call 911 and talk with a dispatcher in that county. Up until a few weeks ago, that wasn't the case.
The first 911 call was made in Alabama in 1968. Now, many states are implementing "Next Generation 911," an internet-based system allowing dispatch centers to easily transfer calls to others. Eventually, it will let people send photos, videos and texts to dispatchers.
But even with that progress, Stark County officials celebrated another big milestone on Monday, Sept. 16. It's the last county in Illinois to receive 911 service. That's thanks to a partnership with neighboring Peoria County and grants from the state.
It used to be a tedious process to dispatch first responders in Stark County. Callers had to give directions, or get bounced around different departments, wasting valuable response time. Now, it's as easy as dialing 911.
There's plenty of new tech for Dispatch Supervisory Betsy Colclasure to play with. She's been with the Stark County Sheriff's Office for more than 20 years.
Before they get tools like geolocation in the middle of August, her dispatchers had no way to know where calls came from.
"People would call in, we would ask directions, find out where they were at. A lot of times they gave us the wrong direction," Colclasure said. "We’ve had a couple where they were three miles south of where they told us."
To even reach the sheriff's office, callers had to know the 10-digit number. 911 calls would be bounced to a nearby county, then get transferred to the right first responders. All that takes time.
"It actually can take up to 10 minutes. Especially if they go the wrong direction, because they have to turn around and go back," Colclasure said.
Now, first responders can see every call on a map. She said it's made dispatchers' jobs much easier.
It's the culmination of nearly a decade of work from the Illinois State Police, and more than $45 million in state grants. Brendan Kelly is the director of the ISP. He said it's a significant milestone and safety improvement.
"When someone's calling 911, every single second matters. Every minute matters in terms of being able to respond to whatever that emergency is," Kelly said. "If we are saving just 30 seconds, or we’re saving 5 minutes, or we’re saving one second that we can get some type of emergency response that could save somebody’s life or respond to an emergency quicker, then that’s very important."
When the ISP started consolidating and expanding dispatch services in 2016, 13 Illinois counties including Henderson, Greene and Calhoun didn't have access to 911 services. Every Iowa county already has 911 answering centers established.