by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 10, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
When providing emergency services to a community and/or region, it is only common sense that the citizens receive service promptly. In the Lompoc Valley, three separate and distinct organizations provide emergency medical response service. They are the Lompoc City Fire Department, Santa Barbara County Fire Department, and American Medical Response.
It is imperative that the taxpayer-funded emergency response system resources be managed effectively to gain the maximum benefit for the community. Minutes and seconds matter when life-threatening emergencies occur…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 10, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Public Safety, Critical Infrastructure Highlight Importance of Backup Power in Disasters
Public safety, business and critical infrastructure officials emphasized the importance of backup power and collaboration between wireless providers and energy providers during a field hearing on disaster communications that was a part of the FCC’s October 26 meeting.FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said it is important that the FCC learn as much as possible whenever communications outages and field hearings provide a strong outlet for that…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 5, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
While most U.S. emergency communications centers (ECCs) use a CAD system to dispatch 911 calls and facilitate records management, few CAD system components are uniform across vendors. This can create problems transferring emergency calls and associated data, such as caller location information.
It can also create problems with the transfer of call information to first responders in the field via public safety broadband networks. These transfer functions are important capabilities for enhancing responder safety and situational awareness and is essential for the transition to Next Generation 911 (NG911) functionality…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 4, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
During a mass shooting, the ECC will be overwhelmed with calls. There will be calls from persons involved in the incident, friends and family of those affected, and potentially the shooter. The telecommunicator must process calls quickly to obtain as much information as possible.
Everyone knows the most crucial piece of information in any call is the location. For mass shootings, this means more than just the location of the incident. Responders need to know the exact location of the shooter. Obtain location within locations. If the caller indicates the shooter is in the breakroom, ask where the breakroom is inside the building. An updated location of the shooter is also essential. As officers enter the location, they need to know where the shooter is in the building…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 4, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
4.9 GHz
As many are aware, last year the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided public safety was not making sufficient use of the 50 MHz of spectrum in the 4.9-GHz band the Commission had made available to the public-safety community for Wi-Fi-type services starting in 2002.
The FCC’s idea was to assign the spectrum to each state and each state could then award a master lease for the spectrum. The successful leaseholder would then be able to determine how the spectrum would be used within that state, and supposedly protect existing public-safety users of the spectrum.
The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) filed a number of comments and then filed a request for stay to prevent the FCC from moving forward with its intended plan. In 2021, the new FCC implemented the stay order and to a limited extent, began permitting public safety to once again license systems for use in the 4.9-GHz band…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 3, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Margaret Gutierrez, National Tribal Government Liaison, First Responder Network Authority
Twenty years ago, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our nation revealed fundamental problems with our emergency communications systems. Police officers, firefighters, and paramedics could not communicate across radio systems, and cell towers were congested with commercial usage. First responders’ inability to communicate on that fateful day underscored significant public safety communication shortfalls nationwide – including on tribal lands. READ FULL ARTICLE
