Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has taken a strong stance on the city’s ongoing 9-1-1 wait time problem, emphasizing the need for urgent action. The issue has garnered significant attention and concern from residents and public officials alike. Mayor Lucas has expressed his personal experience with the problem and has vowed to find solutions to […]
On January 14, 2020, Georgia recognizes dispatchers in groundbreaking legislation passed by the Georgia General Assembly. The Georgia House of Representatives passed House Resolution 885, which recognizes 911 and public safety telecommunicators as first responders in Georgia. The Resolution identifies the critical roles performed, the stressful situations experienced and specialized equipment utilized by emergency communications […]
From the office of California Assemblymember Rudy Salas: Today, Assemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) joined a group of public safety dispatchers from across the state for a press conference to celebrate Assembly Bill 1945 (AB 1945), which would recognize the brave work of public safety dispatchers by classifying them as first responders. Currently, the Federal government […]
9-1-1 authorities have felt the crunch to support PSAPs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to reinforce social distancing, 9-1-1 authorities have had to employ creative ideas to separate call-taking and dispatching positions within PSAPs so that employees could reduce their risk of exposure to the virus while also continuing to provide emergency services […]
Alexandria, Virginia 9-1-1 dispatchers are taking calls and handling operations from their homes using FirstNet’s network, hotspots and smartphones. The agency is leveraging FirstNet for remote 9-1-1 calltaking and launching a new dynamic for a public safety function that has traditionally been tied to brick and mortar PSAPs or agency-owned communications vehicles. The remote dispatchers […]
Public health officials in Hertford County, North Carolina, have agreed to provide the county 9-1-1 administrator with the addresses of people confirmed to have COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The data will be removed after 15 days or once Albemarle Regional Health Services (ARHS) notifies the county that the patient has recovered. “This […]
The FCC has scheduled its July Open Committee Meeting and the agenda is packed with several issues critical to public safety communications. However, there are two topics included on the agenda that should be of great interest to PSAPs: robocalls and wireless call accuracy. CG Docket No. 17-59, Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful […]
While preparing your community for a hurricane, if the evacuation creates its own disaster, is evacuation still a good idea? In the aftermath of the evacuation, Garnet Coleman, the Democratic State Representative from Houston asked “Is the chance of dying greater in the movement than in the storm? That is the question we need to consider.” This case study discusses the challenges that arose when public officials decided that a mass evacuation of a densely-populated region was necessary 3 days prior to Hurricane Rita making landfall in Texas and Louisiana.
9-1-1 authorities have felt the crunch to support PSAPs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to reinforce social distancing, 9-1-1 authorities have had to employ creative ideas to separate call-taking and dispatching positions within PSAPs so that employees could reduce their risk of exposure to the virus while also continuing to provide emergency services […]
With the ability to text emergency messages to 9-1-1 being deployed across the nation, the need for a translation solution for non-English Text-to-911 calls for service has been identified as a critical need to help 9-1-1 Telecommunicators. Census data reveals that 61 million people nationwide speak a language other than English at home. Once a […]
We promise not to spam you. You will receive periodic emails on critical 9-1-1 industry news/announcements to help you keep up with the latest information.
