BUTLER TWP — Firefighters, police and emergency medical personnel have been expertly handling emergencies in Butler County for 51 years, thanks to the Reader's Digest and a local 94-year-old woman.

The Butler County Chamber of Commerce on Friday honored the half-decade of innovative, lifesaving work at the county's 911 center at the chamber's annual Community Champion Luncheon.

The event was held under a tent at the Sunnyview Complex outside the 911 center, where luncheon guests could walk through the county's new mobile command post trailer or check out the plethora of emergency-services equipment stored in a nearby garage.

Seated among the former dispatchers, elected officials and past 911 center directors was nonagenarian Anabel Brunermer, who read an article in the Reader's Digest in 1968 about a new concept in emergency services in which someone experiencing an emergency would dial just three numbers, 9-1-1, to have an ambulance, fire department or police officer dispatched to the caller's location.

As the president of the GFWC Intermediate League of Butler, Brunermer thought starting up a 911 service in Butler County would be a great entry for the league's national Community Improvement Project contest.

Brunermer approached Butler Mayor Arthur Megan with the idea to place a 911 center here.

When he expressed interest in the idea, she met with officials from the telephone company to see if a 911 system would be feasible.

System beginnings

The county commissioners and emergency services officials then set to work creating a 911 system, which became available June 1, 1969, to those in the Butler and Meridian telephone exchanges.

The original two dispatchers used one switchboard console and a tape recorder to take calls, and wrote dispatches down by hand on cards.

“Boy, I never thought I'd be living when we celebrated 50 years,” said Brunermer, whose elegance has not waned over the decades.

Several improvements and expansions to the system occurred as time marched on, and the county commissioners always found a way to provide funding.

By 1976, 33 of the county's 34 fire departments and 28 municipal police agencies could be dispatched via 911.

In 1985, all residents of the county were able to access the system.

Brunermer marvels at the high-tech 911 center of today, which is staffed around the clock, 365 days per year.

“I just want to cry,” she said of the current 911 system in the county. “I'm so happy. It's very inspiring.”

Brad Magill, director of the 911 center from 1980 to 1996, told those at the luncheon that securing funding for 911 upgrades wasn't always easy.

He recalled a contentious meeting with commissioners and the county's first budget director that occurred early in his tenure as 911 director.

“He quit the next day because the commissioners agreed with me and wrote the check,” Magill said.

He said before the advent of the 911 system, his parents were involved in a serious vehicle accident on Route 68 outside of Evans City.

When the state police finally arrived and realized that Magill's mother was severely injured, troopers called a funeral director in Evans City, who transported Mrs. Magill to the hospital in a hearse with a red light on top.

Magill said the Butler 911 system served as a model for counties across Pennsylvania and even the United States.

He went on to help build a 911 system in Washington, D.C., and was offered a job to do the same in San Francisco.

Overcoming challenges

John Stokes, who was a 911 dispatcher from 1971 to 1977 and a former Butler Township fire marshal, recalled the early days at the 911 center, when one operator was on duty for each shift.

“We had challenges that we overcame, but it was well worth the effort and the time we put into it,” Stokes said.

Betty Staley Dickey, one of the first dispatchers hired for the 911 system, said procedures were created as incidents arose at the 911 center.

She recalled one fraught day at work when a man called 911 to tell her there was a bomb at Pullman Standard, which was a busy train car factory at the time.

“I'm going 'Oh my goodness. What do I do? Who do I call?'” Dickey said.

She said the Federal Bureau of Investigation came to the 911 center to listen to the tape recording of the call.

“The FBI got the man,” Dickey said. “He was a disgruntled employee.”

She also recalled the dozens of grass fire calls received on dry days each spring, when the dispatch cards always piled up.

“I'm thankful to God for giving me the job and helping me make it through it,” she said.

Sheriff Mike Slupe also spoke of his days as a dispatcher from 1985 to 1991.

Slupe remembered Magill's able handling of the tornados that touched down in the county on May 31, 1985.

Efforts lauded

Steve Bicehouse, the current director of emergency services, informed the younger adults at the luncheon that before the advent of a 911 system, residents had to call their local fire or police station or ambulance agency.

“Remember the stickers on the phone or the fridge?” he asked.

Bicehouse called out the dedication of Magill and later director Frank Matis, whose leadership he said kept county residents safe for many years.

“I still live in the ghost of both of them,” Bicehouse said.

He praised Brunermer's persistence, the Communications Council, the former and current county commissioners for their commitment to the 911 system, and all the dispatchers who have sent services that would save lives and property throughout the county.

“They are the ones who have provided exemplary service on your worst day,” Bicehouse said.

He also marveled at the fact that the county was able to get a 911 system up and running so quickly, and that the system served as a model for many other counties.

“I'm hopeful we will continue to be a leader in 911,” Bicehouse said.