Seattle discussing dispatching behavioral health providers, crisis experts to 911 calls (WA)

SEATTLE — In Seattle, the city says it receives about 900,000 emergency 911 calls a year. The high call volume combined with a lack of officers right now has the city looking at alternatives.

The city wants to see if community service officers, crisis response experts, and behavioral health providers could be dispatched to certain calls. But exactly which calls and how the process would work are still being figured out.

FirstNet Authority Launches Immersive Virtual Lab for Public Safety Research and Training

 

The center is designed to help responders and technology designers simulate various scenarios, such as simulations of search and rescue activities or coordinated, complex terrorist attacks.

FirstNet Authority Chief Network and Technology Officer Jeffrey Bratcher says the lab will be the technical headquarters and training lab “for the augmented reality and virtual reality aspects for public safety.”

 

Staff shortfall rises to 67% at N.M. emergency dispatch center – EMS1

Staff shortfall rises to 67% at N.M. emergency dispatch center – EMS1

SANTA FE, N.M. — Bernard “Buster” Brown inherited a severe staffing shortage at the local 911 dispatch center when he stepped into its top job in November.

The New York native, with more than 25 years of experience in emergency dispatch centers, vowed to address the 49 percent vacancy rate and said he hoped to make the Santa Fe Regional Emergency Communications Center a model for the state.