United States Fire Administration
It’s been a tough year for everyone, including public safety telecommunicators who have played such an essential role during the COVID-19 pandemic. During National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week 2021, take a moment to tell the #HeadsetHeroes who somehow get it all done with patience, compassion and a smile on their face, “thank you!” for their vital contributions to the emergency services… READ MORE
NIST said Monday that the prototype is intended to help older Land Mobile Radio towers and handsets benefit from wireless Long-Term Evolution (LTE) capabilities including voice, video, text, instant messaging and other data-related features.
The agency noted that the effort is meant to take advantage of LTE-based, mission-critical “push to talk” capabilities while addressing challenges in transition costs. The LTE element s also meant to support key aspects in public safety communications including speaker identification, clear audio, emergency calling and high reliability and availability, according to NIST…
By Edward Parkinson, Chief Executive Officer, First Responder Network Authority
First responders face incredible challenges to keep our communities safe. This past year it has been especially true as public safety continued to uphold their oath to protect and serve during a worldwide pandemic. While we honor and celebrate these heroes every day, every April and May, we dedicate extra time to thank them for their selflessness and dedication.
Join us as we highlight the commitment and sacrifices made by those in emergency communications, the fire service, law enforcement, and emergency medical services (EMS), as well as our nation’s volunteers and public servants during these annual celebrations:
During National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) recognizes those who save lives in times of crisis and raises awareness of the hard work and dedication of public safety telecommunicators.
On February 21, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. the Glendive (MT) 911 Communications Center sent a multi-state message from the Glendive Police requesting law enforcement agencies attempt to locate a child abducted by a non-custodial parent in a stolen vehicle possibly en route to California. The Idaho State Police (ISP) Regional Communications Center (RCC) South in Meridian broadcast the information to the Pocatello and Idaho Falls areas and ISP Troopers in Pocatello began expanding their search toward the Idaho-Utah border…
In public safety and emergency situations, there are different priorities for people and connected things to communicate with each other and to trigger actions accordingly. This is a complex technical and operational challenge, partly because the scope of connected sensors, automated plant and information display devices varies widely, leading to a large number of integration points. As a result, many public-safety systems focus on single-purpose solutions, missing opportunities to design for cross-silo and interoperable services…
Emergency communications centers must operate 24/7 without interruption, so securing their cyber systems is a critical task. The US is currently testing a cybersecurity technology for the detection of attacks against emergency communications centers.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is expanding pilot testing of a technology to improve the cybersecurity defenses of emergency communications infrastructure… READ MORE
