9-1-1

9-1-1 (nine-one-one or nine-eleven) is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is one of eight N11 codes.

September 11

When the 9-1-1 system was originally introduced, it was advertised as the "nine-eleven" service. This was changed when some panicked individuals tried to find the "eleven" key on their telephones (this may seem bizarre and amusing, but it is important to remember that in emergencies people can easily become extremely confused and irrational). Therefore, all references to the telephone number 9-1-1 are now always made as nine-one-one — never as "nine-eleven" (See September 11, 2001 attacks). Some newspapers and other media require that references to the phone number be formatted as 9-1-1; nine-eleven is still used occasionally but less so since the term came to refer to the September 11 attacks in the United States, as Americans write dates month/day (unlike Europeans, who write dates day/month).

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