911 and Dispatch
Age, capabilities, funding and outages are emblematic of problems facing the country’s emergency communications and response system
The red fire alarm boxes found on street corners continue to be valuable, especially during 911 outages, even 100 years later
Dispatch centers across the country reported disruptions due to the Microsoft 365 outage, including having to write 911 calls on paper to share with first responders
The lawsuits accuse the county of failing to properly train dispatchers, not warning officers that errors happened and not ensuring the 911 mapping system was accurate
There is an increasingly pressing need for PSAPs to be able to translate text-to-911 messages sent in languages other than English
Since the county went from four 911 centers to one, costs have increased, staff have unionized and technology is blamed for dispatch delays
Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel’s efforts to align how fire and EMS responses are measured includes “pot of meat” fires, dispatch time
The Phoenix Police Department announced that they would dedicate a new “quiet room” for dispatchers to help them deal with the stress of the job
The current analog-based system would be upgraded to an all-digital radio system
Authorities were searching in vain for Jada Strong before her live stream alerted Facebook to her medical emergency
John Shaw’s 78-second call with United Airlines Flight 93 passenger, Edward Felt, is part of a new book titled “The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11”
Lumberton officials acknowledged their employees were in the video and called the incident a “serious error in judgment”
Hundreds of supporters of the library took to the streets to oppose a funding change that would take away income tax revenue from libraries and transportation agencies
Texas lawmakers passed a bill changing the definition of a first responder to include operator or emergency services dispatcher
Police released audio of a former 911 dispatcher scolding a frantic newspaper delivery woman for driving into floodwaters
Knox County Judge and Executive Mike Mitchell said this resolution is being adopted across the Commonwealth
The Akron Fire Department is launching a paramedicine program to offer free, in-home consultations to help residents and reduce non-emergency calls
The Fire Peer Support Initiative provides an upstream approach to a holistic lifestyle aimed at reducing the negative effects the job has on first responders
The money will help fund renovation, hardware, equipment and associated technology costs for the call center
The goal of the Heads Up program is to decrease the unknowns while responding to an emergency call
Fredericksburg’s City Council set a priority in 2014 to establish around-the-clock advanced medical service to address the burden of increased medical calls
911 callers were put on hold and transferred, and the emergency radio system froze due to excessive traffic during the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Daviess County Judge-Executive Al Mattingly requested a study be conducted on the feasibility of consolidating regional 911 dispatch centers into one center
The Ohio Department of Administrative Services gave all dispatch centers a deadline to either be EMD certified or to submit a timeline for compliance
California received the largest award in the country, totaling $11,399,076 to improve its 911 centers
The study found some of the system’s equipment to send and boost radio signals is no longer being manufactured or supported by manufacturers
Using the automated system, operators essentially click a button and a computer voice will alert fire stations and dispatch firefighters to the scene
Brent McCartney met with the firefighters and police officers who responded when he suffered cardiac arrest while driving and crashed his car
Palm Beach County’s 911 planning coordinator estimates that 18 public-safety call-center stations have received about 100 text messages each month
This special edition offer insights into what fire chiefs need to know about adopting FirstNet, including budget implications, training, mutual aid and other essential information
Firefighter Matthew McCard, 37, immediately called 911 and started banging on the door of the home, then ran to get a garden hose to help keep the fire from spreading
The board voted 4-0 to authorize Chairwoman Virginia Alexander to send out contract notices detailing the increase from $3.98 to $4.35 per call
Nathan Hylek received a FaceTime call from his 20-month old daughter and when he realized his wife was having a medical emergency, he dialed 911