FirstNet CEO heads to the private sector

FirstNet CEO heads to the private sector

First Responders Network Authority CEO Edward Parkinson is leaving his role in two weeks, for a position in the private sector.

The FirstNet Authority said that its deputy CEO, Lisa Casias, will step into the position of acting CEO as of May 10. FirstNet will conduct a search to select its next CEO.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the public safety community and deliver the communications network they’ve needed for so long,” said Parkinson…

Resuscitation science and technology leaders introduce new, groundbreaking T-CPR training and education

DALLAS, April 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A new suite of telecommunicator CPR (T-CPR) training and education programs designed for the first first responders in a sudden cardiac arrest emergency is now available from RQI Partners, the partnership between the American Heart Association® (Association) and Laerdal Medical (Laerdal), to help improve cardiac arrest survival rates in communities nationwide. RQI® Telecommunicator CPR (RQI T-CPR) has expanded to three program and learning tiers, marking a first-ever milestone, and offering emergency communications centers and telecommunicators access to more tailored and cost-effective solutions… READ MORE

Editorial: City councilor isn’t the one who has to answer for 911 calls (NM)

The question isn’t whether City Councilor Louie Sanchez calls 911 too much. It’s whether police are responding in time to prevent serious crimes and save lives. But you wouldn’t know that based on the recent dismissive tone of the Albuquerque Police Department.

Sanchez, who served 25 years with APD before taking office in January, has been pressing city officials about why officers weren’t dispatched after a recent 911 call in which Sanchez reported a man at a gas station hitting another man with the butt of a gun and pointing the gun.

Rather than immediately dispatching officers, the 911 operator said she was setting up a “be on the look out.” Meanwhile, the report of a man pointing and striking another man with a gun got no response for about 50 minutes… READ MORE

FL County’s 9-1-1 Operations in Crisis

It was supposed to be a day full of hope for what the New Year would bring, but it began with a cry for help so guttural it carried throughout the Deerfield Beach house. Keishawn Johnson Jr., not even 3 months old, was turning blue. His mother, full of terror, screamed: “My baby! My baby!”

Cory McNeil, one of many adults staying at the house that included a bed full of sleeping children, grabbed a phone and frantically pounded the numbers 9-1-1. The phone rang and rang and rang — and rang some more — as Darrol “Molly” Glasco continued to scream for someone to help her baby boy…

FirstNet Authority Board member champions diversity

By First Responder Network Authority

Warren Mickens joined the FirstNet Authority Board(link is external) in October 2021, when he was appointed to a three-year term by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Mr. Mickens has had an extensive career leading technology and manufacturing companies. He retired as Vice President of CenturyLink Communications and was a former Vice President at Nokia/Alcatel-Lucent. Read his full bio to learn more about his experience.

We sat down with Mr. Mickens to get his perspectives on FirstNet and the FirstNet Authority’s mission.

READ FULL ARTICLE

Public Safety Advocate: FirstNet (Built with AT&T) Announces More Communications Tools

At IWCE 2022, FirstNet announced a new, significant upgrade to FirstNet (Built with AT&T) that prompted me to write about communications tools for first responders.

One of these tools is actually an upgrade to the network that many of us have been expecting for a long time. This network enhancement makes it possible to send Push-To-Talk (PTT) voice, data, and video to multiple devices simultaneously (multicasting). The most significant effect I see with multicasting videos is that this activity consumes much more bandwidth than PTT.  Multicast, or eMBS, is important because it not only supports one-to-many broadcasts over the network, it adds yet another attribute which, until now, only Land Mobile Radio (LMR) could provide…