• Voters of Carter County approved by referendum an Emergency 9-1-1 District on September 17, 1991. 
• On October 29, 1991, an Emergency 9-1-1 Board was established and comprised of nine members. The current Chairman of the Board is Chief Roger Deal.
• The District began collecting surcharges in December 1991. We are funded by the surcharge received monthly as well as funding from the City of Elizabethton and Carter County.
• Carter County 9-1-1 went online with Basic 9-1-1 on May 15, 1994 at 12:01 A.M. We are now a fully enhanced center where we receive and dispatch calls to 11 separate agencies.

The Elizabethton-Carter County Emergency Communications Center is equipped with tools such as Computer Aided Dispatch and Enhanced 9-1-1 to better enable dispatchers to take calls and dispatch the appropriate emergency services - Police, Fire, and/or Rescue - to resolve emergency situations as rapidly as possible. If you have to call 9-1-1, dispatchers will attempt to find out the nature of the problem, location, suspect and suspect vehicle descriptions (if appropriate), medical information about the patient/victim (for rescue calls) and other vital information. It may seem like it's a waste of time in an emergency situation, but this protocol has been proven to be the most efficient at providing emergency response. Try to stay calm and answer the dispatcher's questions accurately and concisely. The dispatchers have been trained to calm excited and upset callers down, but the more you can do for yourself, the more they can help. Depending on the nature of the call, the dispatcher may ask you to stay on the line while he or she dispatches emergency personnel. This is so that he or she can immediately relay vital information to responders if something happens before they can get to you.

Misuse of the 9-1-1 system is a crime. If someone calls, an officer will be dispatched to that location, even if the caller hangs up the phone before it starts ringing in the handset. This is because, in part, many crimes involve a suspect interrupting the caller's attempt to get help. If the officer arrives at the location and finds that the caller is making prank calls, then the caller can be charged with misuse of the 9-1-1 system and will then face potential fines and/or jail time. Please be sure to call only if you need the police, fire department, or an ambulance!