Reimagining the 911 Emergency System

Reimagining the 911 Emergency System

911

 

Illustration by scarysideofearth via Flickr.

Americans make at least 240 million 911 calls each year. Many of these calls result in timely professional responses to medical emergencies, fires, and serious crimes in progress.

This everyday excellence—24 hours a day, 365 days a year—is a remarkable, often life-saving accomplishment. Indeed, 911 professionals are true first responders. At the same time, America’s 911 system exhibits many opportunities for improvement.

Research shows that most 911 calls are not related to a crime in progress, yet often still elicit a police response. This results in police spending much of their time responding to low-level or non-criminal incidents that do not amount to public safety or health emergencies…

Public Safety Advocate: FirstNet Ten-Year Anniversary—FCC Chair’s Speech, Awards, and Unified Push-To-Talk

I hear that a good time was had by all who celebrated the ten-year anniversary of the creation of FirstNet. I, on the other hand, unexpectedly spent my Tuesday in a Mayo Hospital operating room while they put final touches on a minor surgery. Still, I was able to watch some of the live stream and from what I saw, it appeared to be a professional and well-organized event.

The Celebration

Congratulations are in order for the FirstNet Authority, the management team at the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association (PSBTA), and members of the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA)…

Telecom Alert: Proposed NG911 Funding Plan; Pole Attachment Rulemaking; Georgia PSC Bill; Cybersecurity Advisory; ECF Funding [Vol. XIX, Issue 9]

Rosenworcel Proposes NG911 Funding Plan

Last week, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel gave a speech in which she proposed funding a portion of the transition to Next Generation 911 (“NG911”) services through proceeds from future spectrum auctions.  Chairwoman Rosenworcel suggested that the FCC should consider utilizing these funds in a similar manner to how the Commission funded FirstNet, which was established from revenue raised in the 700 MHz band auction in 2012.  Congress must extend the FCC’s authority to auction spectrum by September 30, 2022… READ MORE  

APCO Seeks Working Group Members to Create a New Candidate Standard Titled Common Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Public Safety GIS Identifiers

Alexandria, VA – The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International has issued a call for participation for working group members to participate in the creation of a candidate standard titled Common Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Public Safety GIS Identifiers.

CAD systems are the principal application used by public safety agencies to manage law enforcement, fire and EMS incidents from the initial time an incident is reported, to the conclusion of the incident. These systems may be composed of both tabular records management systems and spatial or geographic information (Geofile) systems…

Rosenworcel proposes using spectrum-auction proceeds to fund NG911 deployments

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel this week proposed that future auction proceeds be used to fund the technological migration of U.S. public-safety answering points (PSAPs) from legacy systems to IP-based next-generation 911 (NG911) platforms.

Rosenworcel unveiled her idea during an event organized in Washington, D.C.—organized by the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association—celebrating the 10th anniversary of the FirstNet Authority being created to build a nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN). A key player in the push for FirstNet while serving as counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee a decade ago, Rosenworcel cited numerous parallels between the FirstNet initiative and the NG911 transition… READ MORE

Rosenworcel’s Proposal for 9-1-1, Harris to Talk Broadband, AT&T Joins Ericsson Startup 5G Program

February 23, 2022 – Following the recent announcements concerning spectrum from the Federal Communication Commission, agency chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel revealed Tuesday a proposal to use proceeds from upcoming spectrum auctions to update the national 9-1-1 system, according to an FCC press release.

The next generation 9-1-1 system allows callers to send emergency responders photos, videos and text messages, instead of just calls. For example, these upgrades would include sharing pictures and videos of the emergency during the emergency and sharing medical records instantaneously… READ MORE