When an emergency strikes, you know to call 911 for help. Since 1968, it’s been the go-to number for fire, crime, and medical emergencies in the U.S. But this 55-year-old tool is a relative newcomer to the history of emergency response.
The beginnings of the country’s emergency medical system date back to 1875. During the Civil War (1861-1865), armies learned how to treat patients on the go and brought them to hospitals on wagons. After the war, doctors started using these practices in cities and hospitals across the U.S. Over the years, horse-drawn ambulances and fire trucks gave way to modern vehicles. Lifesaving technologies like portable defibrillators, which use electricity to treat irregular heartbeats, shrank from the size of a 150-pound suitcase to a 5-pound lunch box.
Launched in 2022, the newest tool is the 988 hotline for mental health, also known as the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Anyone in crisis can call to talk to someone trained in mental health crisis management. People can also get help via text messages and online chat.
“When we first started asking for this number in 2018, we weren’t in the middle of the global pandemic,” says Becky Stoll. She’s the senior vice president of crisis services at Centerstone, a behavioral health center that operates in several states. “But now we are seeing that a lot of kids are using 988 to chat and text to talk about isolation and the impact of Covid on their families.” So if you need someone to talk to, just dial 988.