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News & Articles
John Stuermer To Retire From 911 Center – (TN)
John Stuermer, who has been the executive director of the Hamilton County 9-1-1 Emergency Communications District since 2004, has announced his intention to retire, effective Dec. 13. The District’s Board of Directors chose the current operations director, Jeff...
911 Communications District will add bunk space for emergency dispatchers – (LA)
St. Tammany Parish Communications District 1 moved into its state-of-the-art facility north of Lacombe in 2019 — a central and safe location from which emergency personnel can work dispatch for the parish’s first responder agencies.
Burlington County to apply for share of $10 million state funding for 911 centers (NJ)
Burlington County is seeking state funding to help make additional improvements to its emergency communications system.
12-year-old boy to 911 dispatchers – (CA)
Three California Highway Patrol emergency dispatchers were able to help a 12-year-old boy after he called 911 fearing for his safety after his father was driving erratically on the freeway.
‘Cybersecurity incident’ disrupts Washington County website, some services (MD)
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — A “cybersecurity incident” on Thanksgiving caused a disruption to certain computer systems, including the county’s website and some services. READ FULL ARTICLE
Meet 9-1-1, the Next Generation (PA)
Not only was Clarion County the first county in Pennsylvania to have a 9-1-1 service, but the county is also now part of 10 counties in the Northern Tier region that successfully upgraded to the Next Generation 911 system. READ FULL ARTICLE
California expects 8 PSAPs to make NG911 transition this year, more in 2023
Eight of California’s 450 public-safety answering points (PSAPs) have migrated at least some emergency calls from legacy 911 technology to a next-generation 911 (NG911) platform, and the number of 911 centers making a similar transition should increase in 2023. READ...
Police union raises concerns over Arkansas. 911 center being down nearly 50% of workforce
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A year after being removed from under the Little Rock Police Department’s command, Little Rock 911 is facing dire recruitment and retainment problems. The Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police has taken notice of the staffing issues and voiced...
Smartwatches are calling 911 from the slopes | (CO)
Clear Creek County 911 dispatchers are getting increased calls from the ski slopes, but not from people in distress — rather, their watches are calling for help when the owner takes a tumble.
For $3 million, New Paltz will acquire former apple orchard for emergency ops center (NY)
The Ulster County Legislature this week approved a $3 million property purchase of a former apple orchard in the Town of New Paltz as the future site of a state-of-the-art emergency management and government operations center. The land is owned by Wildberry Lodge,...
Marlboro council members vote to keep police dispatch operations in-house (NJ)
MARLBORO — Police dispatch services in Marlboro will continue to be provided by the Marlboro Police Department and will not be outsourced to Monmouth County’s operation. During a Township Council meeting on Nov. 10, the members of the governing body unanimously voted...
Aurora 911 launches nurse navigation program – (CO)
Aurora 911 recently launched a nurse navigation program to help residents avoid unnecessary and costly emergency or urgent care trips.. The service will now redirect callers to licensed nurses to receive care. The pilot nurse navigation program was gifted to Aurora...
Mo. girl, 10, calls 911, follows dispatcher’s directions to help mom delivery baby – (MO)
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Miracle Moore, 10, dialed 911 when her pregnant mother was in pain on Oct. 23. “She said call 911 and I called and then that's when she had the baby,” Miracle told KSDK.
FCC Updates Rules To Improve 911 Reliability
The Commission adopts rules designed to ensure that 911 special facilities, including PSAPs, receive timely and actionable information about 911 service outages that potentially affect them READ REPORT AND ORDER as well as Commissioners Statements HERE
Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Dispatcher Wins 2022 Governors Fire Service Award (VA)
The Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System (LC-CFRS) is proud to announce that Emergency Communications Center Dispatcher Adriane Heiden has been awarded the Virginia Governor’s EMS Award for Outstanding Contribution to EMS Telecommunications. The Governor’s...
Ulster County 911 dispatchers honored – (NY)
KINGSTON – Ulster County’s emergency services dispatchers have been honored by the county dispatchers for exceptional skill and professionalism during a weekend of high stress calls where they provided life-saving measures, repeatedly.
Ground is broken on emergency call center (NM)
Otero County officials broke ground on the Otero County Public Safety Answering Point Center Nov. 9 in Alamogordo. The Center, also known as PSAP, will function as a hub for emergency calls for Otero County, the Village of Cloudcroft and the City of Alamogordo,...
Hamilton Co. 911 Telecommunicator kept victim calm during tense home invasion(TN)
A local 911 operator is being praised for keeping a family calm during a frightening home invasion. Telecommunicator Jennifer Mealer has been answering emergency calls in Hamilton County for the past four years and says she loves her job. READ FULL ARTICLE
DU-COMM board of directors names new executive director – (IL)
DU-COMM (DuPage Public Safety Communications) announces the hiring of a new executive director, Jessica Robb.
St. Louis City plans to add $42 million facility for 911 dispatch – (MO)
ST. LOUIS (KMOV) - To tackle 911 problems that have long plagued St. Louis, the city is moving closer to a plan to consolidate police, fire and EMS dispatch in one place. “Our 911 system is a bottleneck where police dispatch answers all the calls and basically triages...
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Forty-nine Senate Democrats and 12 Republicans voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which now goes back to the House before Biden can sign it into law. One Democrat and two Republicans did not vote.
Here’s which senators voted for or against the Respect for Marriage Act
Forty-nine Senate Democrats and 12 Republicans voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which now goes back to the ...
wapo.st
.It only took 6 years to denounce! But progress is progress.
Mitch McConnell: "There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy. And anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States."
Opinions
Letter to the Editor: More training for 911 operators (SC)
It is time that we see a change in the number of individuals that survive sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in South Carolina. Currently, there is only about a 12% survival rate for those who experience SCA outside of the hospital setting. With a large...
Unsung heroes (WY)
To the Editor:Can we take a minute to talk about some of our most unsung heroes in our county? I’m referring to our dispatchers, the people who answer our calls when we are having an emergency.
It’s important for our citizens to know how often these people are forgotten as some of our most important heroes in our community. When we call them, it doesn’t matter which town we are from, whether we are in the city or the county. What matters to them is getting us the help we need, as quickly and efficiently as they can. They are our fist line of defense in every situation that comes to them. They have to make the decision of who needs to be notified and sent our way. They have to know what to tell us to do in any emergency that we call them with, how to administer first aid, how to perform CPR, the safest measures to take when there’s been an accident, etc. They must keep us as calm as possible, often in situations that seem like the worst moments of our lives.
Most importantly they are doing all of these things simultaneously. While they are dealing with us they are also monitoring our rescuers’ safety, locations and providing quickest route details. In most cases they don’t ever know the outcome of any given situation. When we hang up with them, we often forget that they have just experienced our trauma with us, but they have to be ready to answer the next call when it comes in. Can most of us imagine what the weight of that might feel like?
After saying all of this, I’m wondering if our two governing bodies, the city council and county commissioners, have given this any thought?
We’ve all heard about communication equipment and whether we should or shouldn’t pay for it. We’ve all heard about the possibility of a joint powers board and should we have one or not. We’ve heard discussion of the possibility of splitting the dispatch center into two different centers.
Have these two governing entities ever talked to the people who matter significantly here? Again, referring to the dispatchers who are doing this extremely difficult job. Are they asking for their input on what they might need, to do their jobs most efficiently? Were any of them ever asked to be on a joint powers board? Have they been asked if they want to split the dispatch center? Have they been asked for any input at all?
Are these governing agencies choosing to make all of these decisions, that affect the public’s safety, without talking to the people who actually do the job?
I believe every city council member and county commissioner should be required to spend a 12-hour shift in the dispatch center watching what these people do to keep us safe. When they do, they should pray that it’s not one of the “bad days” because they might leave there a little scarred. Maybe if we require this of them before they make these important decisions they will realize that these are not just glorified receptionists we are talking about.
These forgotten heroes the dispatchers are in fact the oil and fuel that keeps the rest of the machine running!
RICK MACLEAN: ‘9-1-1. What is the nature of your emergency?’ (Canada)
“9-1-1, what is the nature of your emergency?” I knew who it was before I answered. “This is 9-1-1. Is there an emergency?” But I’m guilty of jumping to the end of this story – emergency? It started much earlier, in the wee hours, around 8:30 a.m., definitely the wee...
If you call in an emergency, try to give useful information (TX)
This year, 2022, already doesn’t seem much different from 2021. We had COVID and still have COVID, and we had lots of traffic and still have lots of traffic. As Hood County grows, so will our growing pains. My office is here to serve all who live in Hood County and...
Open Source: Why has the Knox County 911 line gone down recently? (OH)
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is in response to a reader-submitted question through Open Source, a platform where readers can submit questions to the staff. MOUNT VERNON — The 911 phone line in Knox County has gone down twice in the last few weeks. The reason why? On Nov....
An Open Letter to City Council and the City Manager on Police Encryption. (CA)
We, the undersigned, are writing to express our concern about the recent decision by the Berkeley City Council, the City Manager, and the Berkeley Police Department to use encrypted public safety radio devices in Berkeley. It is our understanding that the City of...
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