ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – Answering calls in a time of crisis can be an emotional toll for 911 dispatchers. But without the classification as first responders, they do not have the same access to benefits.
Local dispatch centers are pushing Virginia legislators to step in and make a change.
Emergency dispatchers may not be on the front lines but their role behind the scenes is vital.
With more than 57,000 citizens in Franklin County, Emergency Communications’ Peggy Foley said there are 18 dispatchers ready to answer calls…
CRESA achieved the status of Medical Accredited Center of Excellence, awarded by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch.
Only 11 other dispatch centers around the world have been reaccredited as often as CRESA, the agency said in a news release…
SOUTHWICK — Technical issues are causing a delay to the initial time frame for Southwick emergency calls to transition to a regional emergency dispatch center in Westfield. The completion date has now been pushed out by about six months.
“There are a lot of technical issues that we still need to work out – and that’s been our challenge,” Southwick Police Chief Robert Landis said last week. “We have to go through a procurement process to do that right, and make sure all of our bases are covered. We don’t want to be coming back and piecemealing anything.”
Nina Barszcz, dispatch administrator for the Westfield Public Safety Communications Center, who has been overseeing the project, also said last week that she now anticipates Southwick will be fully merged into the center by the beginning of 2023…
We will be in Washington, DC next week to participate in a celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the signing of the bill that created FirstNet. Thus there will not be an Advocate next week but I will recap the anniversary activities the following week.
The survey we posted three weeks ago is still up and, again, if you have not had time to respond, I hope you will be able to take a few minutes to complete it this week. Thanks to all who have responded and those who will respond this week…
The Virginia Department of Emergency Management continues to work on the deployment of the Next Generation 9-1-1 system across the Commonwealth.
Fairfax County, in 2020, was the first public safety answering point (PSAP) to cutover to the AT&T Emergency Services IP Network. Today, the number of NG9-1-1 PSAPs in Virginia has increased to 25.
As described in the 2021 E9-1-1 Border Response Workgroup Report to the General Assembly, the Commonwealth’s legacy 9-1-1 system was built in the 1970s and is based on decades-old technology originally built to process landline calls. As Virginia moves forward to evolve 9-1-1 and ensure quality service to its residents and visitors, the Virginia 9-1-1 Services Board funded the move to a Next Generation 9-1-1 system…
