I’m writing this as a local fire chief in mid-Missouri and representing NAEMT on the Public Safety Advisory Committee to the FirstNet Authority. Those two roles are not separate. What happens in Washington DC, directly affects what happens in a patient’s living room, in the cab of a fire engine, or in the middle of a multi-agency incident where nothing is clean and nothing is predictable.
Broadband | 2026-02-09
As the Bay Area prepares to host professional football’s most anticipated event, FirstNet®, Built with AT&T, has activated a comprehensive connectivity plan to support first responders and public safety officials through secure, resilient critical communications. Following more than a year of coordination with the City of San Jose, the San Jose Police Department, the San Jose Fire Department, and numerous federal, state, and local agencies, FirstNet is delivering mission-critical connectivity to ensure public safety operations and critical communications remain uninterrupted before, during, and after the Big Game.
If something should happen to the community’s primary Emergency Communications Center, a backup facility at the new Fire Station 5 will provide a second fully functioning call center.
“We can drive out there, flip a switch and everything works,” said Sarah Dragoo, the director of the local ECC facility.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley is extending his well-wishes to 23 students graduating from the South Dakota Basic Telecommunicator Certification Course.
“We can never take telecommunicators for granted,” said Attorney General Jackley. “They are the first voice people hear when they call for assistance.”
BELLEFONTE — Centre County has secured $1 million in federal funds to begin modernizing the emergency radios that connect first responders in the field with the county’s 911 dispatch system.
The county says the broader replacement effort will cost about $4.5 million and is appealing to its municipalities and state legislators to help close the remaining $3.5 million gap.
