Pittsburgh amateur radio group celebrates 80 years of providing emergency communications during disasters (PA)

After eight decades of providing emergency backup communications on a volunteer basis during some of this region’s worst storms and disasters, members of the Steel City Amateur Radio Club will be hitting the airwaves this week to sing their own praises.

The club of about 60 members will be hosting a special event station each day until Saturday at their clubhouse in Collier. They will spend the week taking turns sending messages to other amateur radio operators around the world, sharing the news of their 80-year anniversary…

New Mexico city program sends medic, cop to low-threat 911 calls

On a recent afternoon, Antoine Mosley was panhandling on Cerrillos Road when the city’s Alternative Response Unit arrived.

The unit includes a caseworker, a paramedic and a police officer who respond to low-threat 911 calls usually related to behavioral health issues. The unit members are trained in de-escalation techniques and often connect people in crisis with mental health and housing services. When it is not responding to calls for service, the Alternative Response Unit is driving through Santa Fe offering food, water and support to those they see who may be in need…

Fort Scott/Bourbon County’s Dispatch Moved For Security, Space Issues (KS)

Fort Scott/Bourbon County’s Dispatch Moved For Security, Space Issues (KS)

The Fort Scott/Bourbon County Dispatch office is now located in the old jail facility on 207 S. Judson. Submitted photos.

Those who answer emergency calls for the Bourbon County community have been moved to a more secure and bigger space from the Hawkins Public Safety facility at 1604 South National Avenue.

“We answer all incoming 911 emergency calls and dispatch the appropriate agencies such as police, deputies, fire, and Emergency Medical Services,” Traci Reed,  communications manager, said. Reed has been in this position for ten years and in the dispatch department for 14 years.

“We also answer all calls that require calls for service for the community,” she said…

Augmented Reality Interface for Public Safety Operations | NIST

 

In April 2021, BadVR was awarded $1.1M for the Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program: Augmented Reality (AR) cooperative agreement.

As data grows dramatically in scale and complexity, existing analysis tools struggle to keep up. Within the public safety sector, the stakes are raised as people’s lives and livelihoods are at risk. Real-time information from traffic cameras, IoT sensor networks, and even health monitors can influence life-or-death decisions during emergency response.  When that data is overwhelming or confusing, it impedes the effectiveness of this response and disrupts situational awareness. Fortunately, AR offers a new opportunity for much-needed innovation in analytics and visualization that hopes to make an immediate and significant impact on first responder operations and communications…