Prior to 1968, the United States did not have a nationwide phone number for emergency assistance; instead, emergency numbers varied from region to region. When people required urgent help from the police or the fire department, they had to either call the operator or dial their local services directly. Concerned about the dangerous inefficiency of this system, the federal government decided to establish a single emergency number that could be used throughout the country. The telecom company AT T proposed that the code be 911, a sequence that was easily remembered and not already in use as an area code or service code. This proposal was accepted, and the first 911 call was made by Alabama Senator Rankin Fite on February 16, 1968. What was the reason behind the establishment of a single emergency number in the United States?
1) To provide a consistent emergency number nationwide
2) To reduce the inefficiency of the existing regional emergency numbers
3) To make it easier for people to remember the emergency number
4) All of the above