Now is Not the Time to Change 911 System (CA)

by | Jan 4, 2022 | Comm Center News

Last week I was forwarded a newsletter from the Montecito Association. I was struck by the recommendation to use the 10-digit phone number for the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s landline rather than 911 when reporting an emergency in Montecito, specifically Coast Village Road. Having dealt extensively with this issue during my career with Santa Barbara City Fire, I thought it might be useful to share some of what I learned and why I feel that this is a bad idea, especially regarding Fire and Emergency Medical dispatching..

‘Level zero’: ABC15 investigates ambulance response times (AZ)

‘Level zero’: ABC15 investigates ambulance response times (AZ)

by | Jan 4, 2022 | Comm Center News

PRESCOTT, AZ — On June 30, dispatchers inside the Prescott Regional Dispatch Center repeated the same thing again and again.

“(Unit 1201) is en route with a 41-minute ETA, and we’re in ‘level zero’ again.”

“And that brings us back down to to ‘level zero.’”

“I have no units available.”

Those are just a few of several dispatches captured on radio traffic obtained by ABC15 from that day…

AT&T, Verizon reject U.S. request to delay 5G wireless plans

by | Jan 4, 2022 | Comm Center News

WASHINGTON — Verizon and AT&T have rejected a request by the U.S. government to delay the rollout of next-generation wireless technology.

A joint letter Sunday from the telecommunications giants to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Steve Dickson, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, sought to dismiss concerns brought by U.S. airlines that a new 5G wireless service could harm aviation…

Staff shortages force N.C. EMS agency to ask FEMA for ‘ambulance strike teams’

by | Jan 4, 2022 | Comm Center News

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg EMS has requested “ambulance strike teams” as it faces a more transmissible COVID-19 variant, an ongoing staffing shortage and an increase in service calls.

As of Monday, 33 Medic employees are in isolation due to COVID-19, the agency’s Deputy Director Jon Studnek said during a virtual news conference Monday. On Dec. 21, Medic had just three employees in isolation, he said…