Grey County is renewing its contract with Owen Sound Police Services, which is its 911 public safety answering point, dispatching emergency responders.
The new contract includes a small share of the costs for equipping the OSPS service for coming changes to emergency call services. READ MORE
NEWTON COUNTY, Mo. (KY3) – Newton County Central Dispatch has announced that dispatchers are now accepting Text-to-911 cases.
Text-to-911 is a service that can be used in an emergency when making a call is not possible. It is meant to help if a caller is deaf or speech-impaired, in addition to situations when speaking out loud would put the caller in danger. …….READ MORE
Luzerne County 911 Executive Director Fred Rosencrans said low pay and competition are hampering his efforts to attract and retain crucial 911 telecommunicators.
Some employers in the area warehousing industry are now starting workers at $18 per hour for positions that have less stress and responsibility than a 911 telecommunicator job that requires handling of life-and-death calls and the swift and accurate dispatching of emergency responders, he said. READ MORE
Louisiana APCO Chapter Needs Your Help
By atECC Staff
The national news has lost sight of the fact that Lakes Charles Louisiana has been devastated by Hurricane Laura. There are Telecommunicators there that need our help.
The city of Lake Charles on the western side of Louisiana is located in Calcasieu Parish (a Parish is the equivalent of a county) and has a Parish population of over 200,000. This Parish and other surrounding Parishes were literally in the eye of the Hurricane with winds of over 130 MPH. These dedicated first responders have lost homes and property as they also work through the storm and continue to work through the restoration for others. We have posted several pictures showing some of the damage their community has sustained.
Let us show them they have not been forgotten. I know from past experiences that insurance will not pay for many of the expenses they will incur that are above and beyond the everyday expenses they still have. The Louisiana Chapter of APCO has always been fiscally responsible and more than that THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THERE FOR EVERYONE IN NEED.
Please support them now and donate by clicking HERE
For more information please click HERE
Sign Petition to Ensure Preservation of Vital Broadband Resource
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 27, 2020
LAS VEGAS, Nev.—The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA), a newly formed coalition to protect public safety’s use of 4.9 GHz spectrum, announced yesterday during a national webinar that it has launched a petition supporting the effort. Organized by the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association (PSBTA), PSSA is comprised of public safety leadership and supporting associations, collaborating to spread awareness of first responders’ critical requirement to preserve the 4.9 GHz spectrum for their current and future broadband needs.
The PSSA initiative serves as public safety’s voice to communicate the vital need for spectrum and to assign it to the FirstNet Authority—which is in the best position to work collaboratively with the public safety community to determine a nationwide plan that optimizes the ability to protect life and property.
Members of the first responder community are asked to support the effort by signing and widely sharing the official PSSA petition to protect the spectrum and move it under the FirstNet Authority for oversight and stewardship. Here are the three objectives of the PSSA effort:
“Data is an integral part of helping public safety protect our citizens and communities and additional spectrum is needed to make it secure and accessible,” said Kim Zagaris, PSSA spokesman and retired fire chief. “The creation of FirstNet was a huge win for public safety and we need to raise our voices by signing the petition to ensure the 4.9 GHz spectrum remains with the same entity best positioned for its oversight and protection.”
Dependable, secure broadband connectivity is essential to overcome the difficult, life-threatening challenges first responders face in the field. Allocation of 4.9 GHz spectrum to the FirstNet Authority will ensure that it will be able to meet public safety’s present and future technology, communication and connectivity needs.
“I share with people that spectrum is essentially the lanes through the air by which data flows and it’s extremely valuable and critical to public safety’s future,” said Jeff Johnson, CEO of the Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA) and former vice chairman of the FirstNet Authority. “Moving the 4.9 GHz spectrum under the FirstNet Authority will help ensure those lanes are wide open for public safety.”
The PSBTA webinar held August 26 discusses the critical importance of the broadband resource and why the FirstNet Authority is built to protect and operate the 4.9 GHz spectrum. Click here to view the webinar.
The PSSA is open to anyone who supports the goals of this Alliance, including individuals and the private sector. To learn more, additional information and resources can be found at http://www.thepssa.org.
About PSSA
The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) is an alliance amongst the nation’s leading public safety leaders and associations. The PSSA is an initiative of the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association. The purpose of the PSSA is to ensure that first responders nationwide are able to use the most technologically advanced communications capability that meets the difficult, life threatening challenges they face as they protect America. Our goal is to raise awareness in the FCC, Congress and the White House about what our broadband public safety communications needs are, including use of 4.9 GHz and the continued enhancement of FirstNet—the only nationwide, interoperable wireless communications network built for the first responders who protect America.
About PSBTA
The Public Safety Broadband Technology Association (PSBTA) is an organization focused exclusively on ensuring the success of the entire FirstNet ecosystem that includes the legal entity created by Congress, the network infrastructure, hardware and software, and the single most important component—the end users.
Media Contact:
Martha Ellis
