by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 3, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Advanced Aircraft Company (AAC), a developer of long-endurance hybrid-electric unmanned aircraft systems designed for a wide range of commercial, defense and public safety applications, has been named one of seven finalists in the NIST First Responder UAS Endurance Challenge, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Team AAC from Advanced Aircraft Company placed first in the competition, taking home a cash prize of $100,000. Additionally, the company won three Best-in-Class Awards for Endurance, Innovation and First Responders Choice, totaling its winnings at $135,000…
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 2, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News, Opinions
Gloria is the mayor of San Diego and lives in Mission Hills. Fletcher is chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and lives in City Heights.
Not all emergencies are alike.
Police officers respond to crimes. Firefighters respond to fires. Paramedics respond to physical medical emergencies. But if you or a loved one were having a mental health emergency, dialing 911 would dispatch law enforcement, not trained mental health clinicians.
This is going to change in the city of San Diego and across San Diego County.
Starting this month, county-funded Mobile Crisis Response Teams composed of a mental health clinician, a case manager and a trained peer support specialist will be activated. Members of these teams are trained crisis interventionists. They arrive on-site, evaluate the condition of those in crisis, and link them to the best place to get the trauma-informed behavioral health and supportive services they need…
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 2, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
NORTH FALMOUTH, Mass., Sept. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Quell Foundation, which strives to reduce the number of suicides, overdoses, and the incarceration of people living with a mental health illness, today announces that FirstNet®, Built with AT&T will underwrite the Foundation’s first responder mental health preparedness and training program.
“The women and men of our nation’s first responder community are more likely to die by suicide than in the line-of-duty,” says Kevin M. Lynch, CEO, and President of The Quell Foundation. “These Americans who have dedicated their life to protecting, and saving ours, are taking their own lives at unprecedented rates. We are honored FirstNet is supporting the development of Quell’s First Responder Training and Preparedness Program, the Foundation’s training curriculum for first responders to recognize mental health warning signs amongst their own.”
FirstNet is also underwriting The Foundation’s upcoming documentary “Lift the Mask – First Responders Sound the Alarm,” produced by The Quell Foundation and MOD Worldwide. The film provides insight into the lives and the experiences of the first responder community, their families, and the lives they touch through their day-to-day activities…
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 2, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Last week, several readers pointed out that cloud-based interoperability might not always be best for network-to-network and network-to-Land Mobile Radio (LMR) Push-To-Talk (PTT) interoperability. For example, one reader suggested Los Angeles County (Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System, LA-RICS) and the Los Angeles City Police Department, which are using cloud-based interoperability between them, would be better served if they used direct interconnectivity instead of relying on a remote cloud. I agree, and I should have mentioned that one major vendor could become the only FirstNet-to-LMR interoperability provider. I also neglected to talk about my fear that even if this vendor’s PTT will interoperate with other already-certified FirstNet PTTs, there will be pricing discrepancies between this vendor and other push-to-talk providers that have already amassed a large number of FirstNet/LMR-integrated customers…
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 1, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Kenzie Capece, Senior Public Safety Advisor, First Responder Network Authority
On August 26, the First Responder Network Authority’s (FirstNet Authority) Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) held a business meeting to report on committee operations, progress of recent working groups, and FirstNet’s most recent accomplishments and activities.
Welcome and Leadership Update
PSAC Chair Todd Early welcomed members with remarks that focused on his retirement from the PSAC and his appreciation for the work and expertise the PSAC provides to the FirstNet Authority.
FirstNet Authority Board Chair Tip Osterthaler and CEO Ed Parkinson announced that longtime PSAC and Executive Committee member Jonathan Olson, representing the National EMS Management Association, would serve as interim PSAC Chair, effective upon Todd’s retirement. Tip and Ed also took this opportunity to thank Todd for his leadership, guidance, and commitment to grow the FirstNet network during the years he served on the PSAC, including the three years serving as its Chair.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 1, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
How the Nation’s Most Important Wireless Network was Born
“First responders from other states headed to New York and Washington, D.C. While their assistance was welcomed, their presence further complicated the communications conundrum.”
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Chief Chuck Dowd pulled up to the security gate at the New York City 9-1-1 Center where he was commanding officer of the New York Police Department’s communications division. An officer told him that a small plane had just hit one of the World Trade Center buildings. While the news concerned him, he had no idea what he was about to walk into.
“I went into the 9-1-1 Center and the place was a madhouse,” Dowd said. “As you can imagine, the calls were coming in from everywhere and they were horrific. Our folks were talking to people in the buildings who they knew were not going to get out alive. It was a terrible time.”
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