by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 15, 2018 | Opinions, Stories
Charlotte Gentry
I am going to tell my story about that day, the Oct. 1 Shooting, even though in my eyes, that’s not the official name. I can’t bring myself to call it that. I am going to be raw, honest, and open because I think that is what people should hear. It may not be what you want to hear, but it’s what I need for you to know.
I went back to work on Oct. 3 because there were people at my job that would need my help. I was on the peer support team. I was OK. I never cried in those first few months. I didn’t have survivor’s guilt. I joined survivors’ pages and watched people talk about how they couldn’t leave their house. They couldn’t function and were sad all the time.
That wasn’t me (or so I thought). I shared my story more times than I can recall and every time it got easier. I didn’t have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It felt like it didn’t hit me as hard as I saw it affecting other people. I immediately started going back to concerts and back to my life. I kept busy for months trying to do things for my agency, so they got the recognition that they deserved. I was OK … but I wasn’t. I was just ignoring it. I was ignoring the anxiety, the emptiness I felt inside, and the depression. I would sleep as much as I could. I lost focus at work. I made HUGE mistakes, and hurt people trying to fill that void inside me.
When the shooting started, I was alone. And that is how I felt for almost the whole last year. People at work would tell me they were worried about me because I was different. I didn’t feel any different, but I heard this from multiple people. I lost my smile. I lost my happiness and never noticed. I was always anxious at work. There were so many days that I cried at work and times I just sat and looked at my computer screen. It is hard for people that weren’t there to know how I was feeling and it’s not something you can explain, so I tried to deal with it myself. I went to a trauma counselor and that didn’t really help. I found another counselor that was OK, but I didn’t feel like she was helping so I quit going.
My therapy became getting tattoos. I got six since the shooting and I’m going today to get another one. The pain of the tattoos helped me feel… something, even though it was pain. It took the pain that I didn’t know I had and made it go away for those few hours. Every time I felt anxious, I called my tattoo artist. I now have almost a full sleeve.
I took a lot of Valium during this time. Enough that it would knock most people out. But it didn’t stop the anxiousness and I didn’t tell anyone.
In this business you don’t let things get to you, right? Wrong; they get to us slowly over time and we never admit it. This is what I am doing. I am admitting that I was not OK, and it took me a long time to get there (11 and a half months to be exact). I never thought about hurting myself, but there were so many days that I wished I just didn’t exist. There are some amazing people that I work with, but just like any other center there are those ones that make work hell. They made my last year harder than it had to be.
Being shot at and involved in the worst mass shooting in America’s history wasn’t enough. I had issues at work and outside of work, but I always blamed it on something else. I was diagnosed with PTSD, surprise! I wasn’t OK. Like I mentioned earlier I made some huge mistakes; I hurt people and all I can do is say I am sorry. I can’t go back and change anything. My career isn’t the same. I made mistakes and I felt like the first job I ever loved, some of the coworkers that liked me (not all), abandoned me when I needed them the most. But you live and you learn, and these lessons that all this horrible stuff has taught me will always stay with me.
In the last few months I have started to come out of my depression for the most part. I rarely take Valium. I have started the journey to happiness. There were a couple of times during the last few months when what I had gone through and how much it changed me slapped me in the face. I was standing in the kitchen talking to my 81-year-old mom and she got teary eyed. I asked her what was wrong and she said to me, “I finally have my daughter back. I lost her for the last year.”
I didn’t see it, but now I know and I’ve started changing. I started working out, eating better, and I met my husband. We got married after knowing each other for six weeks. It wasn’t because I needed to have someone around; it’s because we just clicked. We knew from the first few dates that it was right.
They say the one-year anniversary of a traumatic event can be the hardest, and the week leading up to it was hard, but it was healing. I tried to do too many events to help heal. The night of Oct. 1, 2018, survivors made a human chain around the Route 91 venue. It felt like we had to be there at that exact time that the shooting started for the 58 people that lost their lives. We all lost a piece of us that we will never get back. Trauma changes people and you can never go back to who you were before that day. We have a new normal and the new normal isn’t so bad. That night at the human chain, I didn’t feel the closure I thought I would feel, although the hugs from other survivors were amazing. We knew how each other felt.
I visited the Healing Garden on Sept. 30, and looking at the wall with the 58 names on it brought tears to my eyes. My son and mom could have been there looking at my name. I am so glad they didn’t have to go through that. I felt the closure on Sept. 20, 2018, when I got to finish what we started at Route 91 and I got to see Jason Aldean perform. There were about 200 survivors at that concert and it felt right being around people that had been through the same thing I had. When he sang the two songs that he was singing when the shooting happened, I finally let myself cry. That is when I felt the closure. I was a member of a club I never signed up for, but I love my CountryStrong and LoveWins club. I am not OK. And it’s OK to not be OK … but I will be.
Charlotte Gentry Munro is the Quality Improvement Coordinator for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue communications. She is also a Priority Dispatch Software Instructor and a National Q. She was attending the Route 91 Harvest Music festival on Oct. 1, 2017, when a gunman opened fire on the crowd, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more.
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 14, 2018 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Richard Mirgon, Public Safety Consultant
How many times do we say to friends, colleagues and people we know “How can I help”? We do that more often in public safety because helping is in our core. We are service-oriented and we care about our communities. How often do we want to help, but don’t know how to help? Let me make a small suggestion that could end up being a big idea.
FirstNet is up and running. FirstNet built by AT&T is aggressively working every day to meet the commitment they made to the FirstNet Authority and to the first responder community. One key element of that is coverage. We know it is improving everyday and will continue to improve. Coverage is King as they say and we can help improve coverage. As AT&T is building out our band 14 spectrum, they are building and modifying cell sites coast to coast. Many of these sites will need local permits and approvals. This process can be extensive and is different for each community. One element that will slow this process down is when the permitting authority doesn’t understand who or what FirstNet is.
We can help by educating and briefing our local planning departments, planning commissions and elected officials about FirstNet. I am not suggesting we bypass the process. Those processes exist for a reason, but one element that can slow down a process is not understanding the intent of the request or the impact on the community. When we educate our local officials, it allows them to make better and quicker decisions. With that said it is also my belief that asking for permits to be expedited supports the community we serve.
As we all know wireline 9-1-1 is no longer the primary mode to access public safety. It is wireless 9-1-1 that accounts for 80% of all 9-1-1 calls. Each and every cell site impact someone’s life and safety. Here is how impactful a cell site is.
- There are 323,448 cell sites in the US according to statista.com
- There are over 240 million 9-1-1 calls made every year, 80% via wireless according to nena.org. That is about 192 million wireless 9-1-1 calls.
- Each cell site processes on an average of 593 9-1-1 emergency calls a year.
That is a significant number. Now, I realize as much as anyone that the number is an average and there are sites in major cities that see more calls, with some rural sites seeing far fewer calls. However, you can’t deny that the numbers are staggering. I can’t think of a single other technology that saves or impacts more lives.
So back to my point. As the numbers show, every cell site in the US saves lives. Sites being built for FirstNet not only save lives in our community, they protect the lives of our first responders and provide access to additional lifesaving technology and information. Our first responders have become dependent on broadband data and are becoming more dependent every day. Permitting and approving cell sites should be a national and local priority.
It is time to take action once again, but this time on a local level. Reach out to your local officials, planning departments, and permitting authorities and asked that they give priority to FirstNet sites. Writing a memo, sending an email or providing a briefing to those officials is simple and meaningful. Firstnet.gov has a number of PowerPoints and information brochures to make this task easy and painless.
Again, I am not suggesting bypassing the laws and regulations. I am asking that we support those requests for FirstNet sites. That they be given priority in the permit and request process – because it matters. It makes a difference to our community and it saves lives.
(This is a corrected version of the article. we would like to thank our readers for pointing out math errors.)
Richard Mirgon is a Public Safety consultant focused on FirstNet. He is a Past President of APCO International and has over 35 years of public safety and first responder experience. For more information about the author please go to http://www.next-paradigm.com/about/
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 12, 2018 | Opinions
Andre V. Jones
My manager told me once that by listening to radio traffic he knew who the supervisor on duty was in the dispatch center. He said there was something about their aura that had the ability to control the temperament in the room. When I actually considered it, he was correct; the attitude of employees is a direct reflection of their leadership.
Having worked with many different types of supervisors in the dispatch center over the years, it takes a unique individual to manage internal and external crises, simultaneously. It’s important to acknowledge the latter because senior managers and even executives often forget that the role of the supervisor is not exclusive to managing incidents but also managing people—people who have emotions and needs beyond their duty. The people are what make the organization what it is.
I was listening to Las Vegas Fire Combined Communications (Nevada, USA) Supervisor Letha Lofton describe her actions on the day of the Route 91 Massacre (Oct. 1, 2017, when a single gunman opened fire on a crowded music festival). In that brief presentation at NAVIGATOR 2018, she displayed exemplary spirit, tenacity, and grace.
Lofton said her team was initially confused, overwhelmed, and helpless. “Baby, I got you,’’ she told them, and in that moment, it was all the support needed to bring out the best in her team. They were no longer hopeless because they all had an incredible guardian that moved out of the way to allow them to stay strong for each other.
Lofton’s composure kept her team together that night. Yes, the team members do have individual operational and coping skills, but I believe they were activated and guided under the support of her leadership. I believe in that situation, the supervisor switched from task-oriented to relationship-oriented, allowing fortitude, solicitude, endurance, and perseverance to thrive that night. Under similar circumstances I have seen supervisors escalate the crisis by trying to be too participative and directive. Lofton showed us that empathy and compassion inspire.
Sarah McCrae, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue (LVFR) Assistant Fire Chief, who arrived at the center within the first hour of the incident, commended the strength of Lofton’s team that night during her remarks at the NAVIGATOR Opening Session. “That night, our team undeniably had vision, they knew what they were after and what they were about. And so despite the fear, the concern, and the confusion, they pressed ahead and provided calm reassurance to our community and our first responders.”
So what type of leader is best for the emergency dispatch center? Any leadership style that can create an effective team. Fellow leaders, ask yourself:
- Do you have a purpose, and are we accomplishing it?
- Are you providing satisfactory leadership to your employees, customers, clients, and society; are we motivated and coordinated?
- Can you adapt to new opportunities and minimize obstacles (do you embrace change)?
- Are you capable of developing your own tasks and abilities?
- Would you survive in a world of uncertainties (resiliency, continuity)?
A good leader can assess and diagnose talent to see that the right people are doing the right jobs. A good leader can empower the team by enabling the team members to navigate and respond to change. Good leadership encourages interaction and communication among members, a shared understanding, goals, interest, and mutual positive attitudes. Heart, intellect, and improvisation are resources to make the right decision and get the job done. Ultimately, leaders take responsibility for the results.
Operational effectiveness hinges on team confidence. In a technical and tactical job like emergency dispatch, the team must be empowered to use what they know and practice. That is where the leader comes in.
Are you the leader of an effective team?
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 10, 2018 | Comm Center News
By Christopher Vondracek
ESInet is making a more nimble 911 Center a possibility in North Carolina’s capital city.
The City of Raleigh, North Carolina and Wake County, a 1 million urban area who shares a 911 Center for dispatch, and recently they begun taking their first calls on ESInet (or emergency services internet protocol), a broadband-enabled network that makes PSAPs more resilient and effective. According to a release from AT&T, Raleigh-Wake County is the first public safety answering point system in the nation to implement AT&T’s i3 ESInet service. “We were working on a 50-year old technology, the old analog phone system, the old copper wire technology, and a lot of them still work,” said Dominick Nutter, director of the Raleigh-Wake Emergency Communications Center. “But with the phone systems going IT-based, we felt like it was time for a shift.”
Now, residents making the more-than one million calls annually in the Raleigh-Wake County area have their distress calls routed to a telecommunicator on the broadband system. And the shift happened just in time for hurricane season. “The big part is redundancy and resiliency of our individual 911 centers,” said Nutter. “If something gets cut between us and anywhere else, the phone calls can automatically be routed to another connection. There is a second pathway. On the old analog way, we could be cut anywhere, and we might lose that connection.”
The built-in dependability and flexibility of the new system was on display during Hurricane Florence. Even though they’re about 2 hours from the coast, they lent a hand to dispatch centers in the impacted area. “We were, during the middle of the hurricane, running dispatch for New Hanover County, which is Wilmington,” said Nutter. “They’re on the old system, and had they remained there, they likely would’ve failed. But we were able to, with AT&T, to revamp the architecture to connect their analog with our ESInet, and we took the phone calls from out on the coast of Carolina. We were also able to bring some telecommunicators to our center and then they were able to dispatch to Wilmington.” The model could be used in future disaster situations far away from the Carolinas. “It could be someone experiencing an earthquake in California, and we’d do the same thing,” said Nutter.
Late last year North Carolina opted in to FirstNet, and Nutter said Raleigh officials are also interested. “That’s something we’re evaluating, and we’re supposed to have a meeting in November with FirstNet.” But the latest upgrade in technology has meant that they’ve taken what a release from AT&T calls “the critical first step toward next-generation 911.” Already, Wake County and Raleigh are receiving text message distress calls. Within a month, Nutter anticipates building the capacity to allow videos and pictures, as well, to be sent. “This is a significant change, and it’s very important for our hearing and speech impaired community,” Nutter said. “Years ago, they had to be around a device near their homes. Now, the hearing and speech-impaired community will text us. Of if they see something, they can take a video or picture and then text that to us. It’s a tremendous shift.”
Nutter’s 911 center counts roughly 140 people in its ranks, including about 112 people who are answering phones. The fear of data overload isn’t felt by Nutter. He welcomes the public having more ways to share information. “It’s a good thing because we’re all human, and you see something and might not be the exact same thing that you remember. But having a picture of a suspect wearing a red and white sweatshirt that you may’ve thought was pink and grey, now you have that essential data.”
Nutter said approximately 70 percent of their 911 calls come in from cellphones, and while the technology may very soon be available to send videos or images, Nutter said he still relies on the old-fashioned phone calls. “We always encourage people to text if you must, call if you can. Texting can take much longer to process an emergency incident, and it really is a rare exception when people should be texting.” He imagined if someone were in a home during a break-in and the distress call was made in hopes of eluding the intruder. “It’s important to have the capability.”
While ESInet and the fiber-optic-based phone service may in the long run save taxpayer dollars by building efficiencies, Nutter says the reason for any change is primarily the improved quality of outcomes. “It’s like car insurance,” Nutter said. “We’re not in the business of saving money. We’re in the business of delivering protection to our clients. And that means we’re in the business of making sure we have the best products available.” The 911 Center for the City of Raleigh oversees the county fire and EMS dispatch. “I think the most important thing is the reliability and speed that has been greatly increased,” said Nutter.
Christopher Vondracek is a freelance journalist living in Washington D.C., most recently with Courthouse News.
by AllThingsECC.com | Oct 6, 2018 | Comm Center News
Upgrading U.S. public-safety answering points to IP-based next-generation 911 (NG911) technology will cost $9.5 billion to $12.7 billion during a 10-year period, according to a much-anticipated cost study released today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
SOURCE: Urgent Communications
DATE: October 5, 2018
Requested by Congress, the cost study is expected to help guide federal lawmakers as they consider potential legislation that would help fund the transition from legacy 911 to NG911. Historically, 911 has been funded by state and local governments, although the federal government managing a $110 million grant program for 911 upgrades that was included in the legislation that created FirstNet in 2012.
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