KNOX COUNTY, Ky. — The Knox County Fiscal Court adopted a resolution
Tuesday during a fiscal court meeting to recognize all 911 dispatchers
as first responders.
Knox County Judge/Executive Mike Mitchell said this is something that is being done across the Commonwealth.
The resolution
recognizes that the dispatchers of Knox County 911 first responders are
part of the critical infrastructure of the public safety framework,
without them public safety would not be possible. (Photo/Knox County
911)
“Dispatchers have to deal with bad situations through the first line
of communication to get hooked up with law enforcement, police, fire and
other agencies and have to deal with bad events,” Mitchell added.
(Aug. 30, 2019) – Twenty-two law enforcement
dispatchers graduated Friday from the Public Safety Dispatch Academy at
the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training.
The graduates hail from communications centers across the state, and
comprise DOCJT’s 127th telecommunications academy class, which first
began in 1999.
The students graduating from the Public Safety Dispatch Academy
represent the successful completion of a highly structured and
comprehensive curriculum. The five weeks of training consisted of 205
hours of academy instruction to satisfy mandated training requirements.
There’s controversy in Washington, DC over a fire that left a man and a
nine-year-old boy dead. And there should be. Everyone needs to be angry
over failures by two DC agencies to take preventive action at a home
that was a fire trap. But what most everyone will miss, as they always
do, is the failure of a third DC agency–the city’s 911 center–and the
ridiculous excuse provided for its poor performance..
Following a rigorous review process, the Visual 911+ app is now FirstNet Listed and available via the FirstNet App Catalog.
FirstNet
– America’s public safety communications platform – features the
first-ever App Catalog geared to first responders. This gives FirstNet
subscribers a dedicated location to find meaningful new solutions that
have been specifically reviewed for use with FirstNet services. Before
any mobile solution can be added to the FirstNet App Catalog, it must
pass stringent tests for security, relevancy, data privacy and more.
Achieving
a FirstNet Listed designation means the Visual 911+ app is a vetted and
trusted solution for public safety, meeting FirstNet app requirements.
Additionally, FirstNet subscribers will benefit from the unmatched
FirstNet reliability while using the Visual 911+ app.
“Situational
awareness is critical for our first responders’ safety, performance and
accountability,” said Juan Cienfuegos, Managing Member of Southwest
Synergistic Solutions, LLC. “The Visual 911+ app can provide that
critical insight, helping to guide the public safety response based on
direct feedback from those in need following a large-scale emergency
like a hurricane.”
Visual
911+ provides vital information about location and condition of
disaster survivors. Those impacted by a disaster can use the app to
communicate location, condition and group association to first
responders, family and friends. That information gives first responders
using the app more insight into those that may need rescues or emergency
support. The goal: help first responders more quickly locate survivors
while equipping them with critical details of a survivor’s status to
best inform the type of response required.
Using the app, survivors can communicate the following details to first responders:
·
Location – This can be done visually using GPS on Google Maps, by email
or through Twitter using designated hashtags. For example, survivors
could use emergency hashtags like #SOSHARVEY or #SOSHOUSTON or emergency
email addresses set-up by authorities to share their name, phone
number, GPS location and alert status.
·
Condition – To help prioritize and inform response types, survivors can
differentiate between needing rescue and needing rescue with medical
assistance.
·
Group Association – Color-coding survivors with demographic information
helps first responders better prepare for what may be needed.
o Red represents children.
o Green represents those with special needs.
o Blue represents adults.
o Yellow represents service animals and pets.
o
First responders can also designate their own color association to more
easily share their location with other responders for awareness or
should they require emergency assistance.
Visual
911+ can also be used as a first responder team check-in tool to share
status and location with team leaders or at a central emergency
management center via a preset emergency email address set-up for them
to use.
Built with
AT&T, in public-private partnership with the First Responder Network
Authority, FirstNet is bringing public safety a much-needed technology
upgrade to help them connect to the critical information they need –
every day and in every emergency.
“Only
highly secure, high quality, public safety relevant applications are
added to the FirstNet App Catalog. And we’re pleased that Visual 911+ is
now Listed and available to FirstNet subscribers,” said Bob Sloan,
chief operating officer, FirstNet Program at AT&T. “Visual 911+
brings public safety additional capabilities to enhance situational
awareness, giving first responders a clear and actionable operating
picture with locations and conditions of fellow responders and survivors
to aid rescues and better guide needed support.”
“Through
our work with first responders, we heard their need for innovative
applications to assist with their lifesaving mission. FirstNet is
helping to address these needs, and we are pleased to welcome Visual
911+ to the FirstNet App Catalog,” said Mark Golaszewski, executive
director of Technology and Innovation, First Responder Network
Authority.
FirstNet
and the FirstNet logo are registered trademarks of the First Responder
Network Authority. All other marks are the property of their respective
owners.
About Southwest Synergistic Solutions, LLC
We
develop, manufacturer, represent, and sell lifesaving products for our
military and first responder community. Since starting our first
collaboration with US Special Forces on the Everything/Tactical Light
back since 2004, we have continued to develop and represent products
that improve situational awareness, performance, safety, accountability,
and current capabilities for our warfighters and first responders. Our
products help save lives every day and are of the highest quality,
reliability, and value.
As
part of our goodwill efforts towards our first responders and
community, we developed the free Visual 911+ app to help both responders
and survivors communicate in various forms. First visually, by turning
the phone, tablet, computer, smart watch, etc. screens into visual
signaling devices to help first responders locate survivors or
themselves faster, especially at night. Second by providing a way to
email loved ones or rescue team members in case of any disaster via an
email that includes the person’s name, phone number, alert status, and a
link to Google maps showing the general GPS location of the Visual 911+
app user. Lastly, the Visual 911+ app provides a way to utilize Twitter
to post the responder or survivors information, mentioned above, at any
hashtag that has been set up to share information regarding any
disaster. For example, #SOSHARVEY.”
A Hardin County E-911
telecommunicator has been selected as the 2019 NICE Public Safety PSAP’s
Finest Telecommunicator of the Year.
Kendra
Murphy, 29, was recognized Tuesday with the national award during a
Hardin Fiscal Court meeting. It was presented to her by Misty Trotter
of Applied Digital Services, who called the award “a huge
accomplishment.”
When Webster County residents call the 911 dispatch center to report
an emergency, there will be two dispatchers ready to field those calls
at any given time.
“We are going to have two telecommunicators on every shift, 24/7,”
said Dan Posluszny, project manager for IXP, a New Jersey-based public
safety management services company which oversees Webster County’s
communications center.
And according to Fort Dodge Assistant Police Chief Cory
Husske, having two dispatchers on one shift wasn’t always the case
before IXP took over dispatch operations
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
