Developments in 911 technology over the past 25 years brought Enhanced 911 and Wireless 911 to more than 90% of American PSAPs, but the voice-centric 911 call remained the backbone of emergency service. Now, however, with local governments taking advantage of innovative, cloud-based public-safety software, dispatchers — today better described as telecommunicators — and first responders can access critical situational details in the moments that matter most…
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — This week, lawmakers in Tallahassee are discussing companion bills to require that all 911 and emergency dispatch operators be trained to give CPR instruction over the phone.
It’s something that’s not currently mandated in Florida.
About a year into my first term as Pennsylvania governor, our state was slammed by the Blizzard of ‘96. I recall declaring a state of emergency and ordering my fellow Pennsylvanians to stay off the roads. Of course, our first responders were still out in the storm protecting the public.
Twenty-five years later, the emergency isn’t a blinding snowstorm, but a devastating pandemic. And again, it’s our first responders who put themselves in harm’s way.
In police stations, fire houses, ambulances and 911 dispatch centers across the nation, our first responders are working to respond to the needs of their communities and to keep themselves and their families safe from a deadly disease…
The call comes into the police department for a missing person. Sometimes it’s regarding an adult who didn’t show up for work. It might be a teenager who has run away from home. It might be a child who got separated from their parents while on an outing.
Police train for these kinds of missing person cases. But what happens when the missing person has special needs and may be unable to communicate with authorities? …
LEWIS | There is a photo montage in Max Thwait’s office at the Emergency Operations Center here.
Endearingly titled “Max’s First Baby,” the framed photos were a gift for his answer to a call that came into the 9-1-1 center at Lewis several years ago.
A pregnant woman in labor and alone in Long Lake had called for help and he, then an Essex County 9-1-1 dispatcher, helped her calmly and safely through the delivery, even as he sent an ambulance to her location…
