Whether treating a patient with a medical emergency or working to put out a four-alarm residential blaze, clear and reliable communication is essential for firefighters and medics to be able to do their jobs safely and effectively. That’s why a veteran firefighter like Chief Kim Zagaris sees the FirstNet system as such a potentially vital tool for first responders in the field…
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) mission statement as presented on its web page under the “About the FCC” tab reads as follows:
“The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. An independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the Commission is the federal agency responsible for implementing and enforcing America’s communications law and regulations.”
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 9, 2020 An initiative to interconnect three Pennsylvania regions via a fiber-optic communications network to improve emergency response was completed at the end of October. The project was supported by Mission Critical Partners (MCP), which provides consulting services and solutions that support mission-critical communications, specializing in networks, data integration and cybersecurity…
By Thomas Randall, Senior Public Safety Advisor, First Responder Network Authority
At Texas A&M University, two researchers, Dr. Walt Magnussen and Dr. Robin Murphy, are working together to advance public safety technologies. Dr. Magnussen focuses on public safety communications, and Dr. Murphy focuses on ways to use drones to enhance disaster response. They both use FirstNet in their research and training.
Dr. Magnussen leads a research hub called the Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center(link is external) (ITEC), which conducts emergency communications research with a focus on interoperability. For the past five years, ITEC has hosted a training exercise called the Winter Institute that brings together first responders and technology leaders to try out public safety technologies in realistic scenarios. The FirstNet network is used at these exercises to test the full ecosystem of public safety devices and services in disaster conditions. READ MORE
Sacramento County Behavioral Health Services is seeking community input on alternatives to calling 911 in a behavioral health or quality of life crisis. The public is invited to provide comments sharing their thoughts and suggestions in this online survey. The survey will be available online through Friday, Nov. 13.The Alternatives to 911 pilot program stemmed from a Board of Supervisors discussion in September budget hearings… READ MORE
As is the case with all technologies, the systems underpinning the emergency telephone number used in the North American Numbering Plan have evolved since 911 was introduced more than 50 years ago.
Original 911 services, for example, didn’t have the ability to automatically detect the owners of the calling phone number — nor the address they were calling from. That changed in 1999, when the federal government mandated Enhanced 911, or E911. Today, however, E911 has again fallen behind the times in two important areas. Let’s look at those shortcomings and examine how Next Generation 911 (NG911) standards solve them as they bring emergency services up to modern technology levels… READ MORE
