by ECC Editor | Mar 27, 2021 | Comm Center News
AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – Five 9-1-1 operators have been awarded by the Amarillo Police Department for going above and beyond during the winter storm last month.
Some staff members left their families to spend the night at the Amarillo Emergency Communications Center to make sure they could be there when the calls came.
Many slept on cots around the building and another member who commutes from Tulia, paid for four nights at a nearby hotel to make sure she would make it to work… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Mar 27, 2021 | Comm Center News
Speaking to the Bishop City Council on Monday Night, March 22, Acting Police Chief Josh Ellsworth previewed a new service the department is using, called RapidSOS, to keep better, more accurate information while on 4-1-1 and 9-1-1 calls coming from cell phones for law enforcement dispatchers. It is provided as a free service to dispatch centers so, if in practice it does not deliver the goods, the City will not be out any money.
Chief Ellsworth told councilmembers that RapidSOS service works with cell phone providers and law enforcement dispatch centers to let a dispatcher to track a 9-1-1 cellphone call, which previously had only been able to be tracked by cellphone towers… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Mar 26, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
The idea of public safety underlies numerous public policy decisions and laws, as well as many of the choices that each of us make in our everyday lives. But, what is it? What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “public safety”?
[I]n February 2021, Austin added a “mental health” option to the 9-1-1 triage script. When you call 9-1-1 in Austin, dispatchers will now ask if need Police, Fire, EMS, or Mental Health services. Callers that choose Mental Health services are then routed to a trained mental health responder… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Mar 26, 2021 | Comm Center News
As telecommunicators determine the most accurate location of an emergency, they typically look across multiple monitors to compare Automatic Location Identification (ALI) screens, call queues, supplemental location data sources, and computer aided dispatch (CAD) maps. These various resources must be evaluated to accurately dispatch first responders to the appropriate location. This manual process of interpreting numerous screens has the potential for dispatching errors and delays, and is especially challenging for newer dispatchers… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Mar 26, 2021 | Comm Center News
RapidDeploy, a cloud-based emergency response platform, announced today that it will supply every California 9-1-1 center with real-time Automatic Crash Response notifications through a first-of-its-kind agreement with General Motors’ OnStar. Beginning in May, a majority of Telecommunicators at over 400 public safety answering points (PSAPs) will have direct access to available OnStar crash data on RapidDeploy’s RadiusPlus 9-1-1 map screen, without having to rely on verbal relay of information… READ MORE
