DC 911 takes 7-minutes & much confusion to send help to firefighters at a gas leak (DC)

Once again DC 911 shows it can’t handle its basic mission

There’s more proof this (Wednesday) afternoon the 911 center in the Nation’s Capital is incapable of performing its core mission of sending the right help to the right location in a timely manner. In today’s incident, DC Fire & EMS Department Engine 1 attempted to get two additional engine companies and a battalion chief to assist with a natural gas leak. Amid much confusion at the Office of Unified Communications (OUC or 911 center), it took dispatchers approximately seven minutes… READ MORE

911 What’s Your Emergency? (CA)

The emotional consequences of being a 911 dispatcher is overwhelming, and Stockton California Highway Patrol Dispatchers have found strength through the madness.

Dispatchers have a 24 hour service, keeping their community safe by answering and resolving intense emergency phone calls. They do their absolute best to keep victims… READ MORE

Tioga County 9-1-1 ECC celebrates 40 years of answering calls (PA)

WELLSBORO — The Tioga County 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Center celebrated 40 years of answering emergency calls and 30 years answering calls to the number 911 during an open house Thursday, Oct. 24.

The David R. Cohick 911 Emergency Communications Center located at 99 William Farrell Drive here boasts 16 telecommunicators who rotate shifts to provide 24-hour coverage for Tioga and Potter counties.

The center, which began operation in 2015, is able to assist callers with stations that include 10 computer monitors that can trace calls…

Albany police chief: Dispatcher shortage relief coming soon

ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) – Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins has a message for the city’s dispatchers — relief is coming soon.

“We’re on track to have the dispatch center fully staffed within the next six or seven weeks,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins says he is well aware of the staffing shortage, forcing employees to work more than 500 overtime shifts this year.

“That pains me greatly. It’s one of the things that keeps me up at night,” he said.

But the Chief says…

Oracle SD-WAN Rescues 911 Calling in Phoenix (AZ)

The need for high-quality business calls will never disappear, which makes performance-improving software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) technology a modern networking choice for telephony. However, SD-WANs can do more than just optimize the performance of traditional business calling.
As we’ve seen in Phoenix, an SD-WAN can also be of value for 911 calls.
Outliving Frame Relay
In Phoenix, Maricopa Region 911 (MR911) has been using a converged (voice and data on a single network) SD-WAN since 2015, and now considers it to be the foundation for its next-generation 911…

Mural at Cambria County 911 Center recognizes dispatchers (PA)

EBENSBURG – Emergency dispatchers have an often thankless job. With that in mind, the Cambria County 911 Center now has a mural recognizing dispatchers whose instructions save lives.

Robbin Melnyk, director of the county 911 center, recently saw another dispatch center with a mural dedicated to “saves” accomplished by dispatchers and began asking around for skilled artists.

Dispatcher Heather Craver eventually volunteered her son, Jack, a senior at Cambria Heights, to create Cambria County’s new “Tree of Life” mural just inside…