WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), co-chairs of the Congressional Next Generation 9-1-1 Caucus, introduced the Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act, or the 9-1-1 SAVES Act, which would update the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) to better reflect the life-saving work 9-1-1 call takers and dispatchers perform each day.
“From dispatching first responders to using advanced technology to retrieve locations, the work 9-1-1 operators do is essential during emergencies,” said Senator Burr. “As the co-chair of the Congressional Next Generation 9-1-1 Caucus, I’m honored to introduce this bipartisan legislation with my colleague, Senator Klobuchar, to better recognize the specialized training and critical responsibilities of these professionals.
“No matter where you are, if you dial 9-1-1, dispatchers are there to connect you to first responders,” said Senator Klobuchar. “This legislation makes important updates to the classification of 9-1-1 dispatchers to better capture the complex and technical nature of their occupations while also providing valuable statistical tools for federal agencies. I’m proud to work with Senator Burr to properly highlight dispatchers’ roles as safety leaders during times of crisis and the work they do to keep our communities safe.”
Jamison Peevyhouse, President of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), said, “We applaud Senators Burr and Klobuchar for introducing the 9-1-1 SAVES Act in the Senate. NENA and its members strongly support classifying 9-1-1 professionals as a ‘Protective Service Occupation,’ because it will better reflect the stressful, highly-skilled work these public servants perform, and because it will help to encourage and facilitate critical research into the mental and physical impacts of 9-1-1 jobs. We urge all senators to support the non-partisan, cost-free measure which would give the more than 100,000 public safety telecommunicators in the United States the respect and support they deserve.”
Derek Poarch, Executive Director and CEO of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), said, “The work performed by Public Safety Telecommunicators is nothing short of extraordinary, and it is 100% ‘protective.’ Passage of the 9-1-1 SAVES Act will be a win for public safety, and APCO’s going to do everything it can to help make sure that happens.”
Background:
The SOC is a tool used by federal agencies to classify the workforce into useful, occupational categories. Currently, the SOC system categorizes 9-1-1 call takers and dispatchers as “Office and Administrative Support Occupations,” which also includes secretaries, office clerks, and taxi cab dispatchers. The 9-1-1 SAVES Act would instead recognize these dispatchers as “Protective Service Occupations,” which includes lifeguards, firefighters, TSA baggage screeners, among others.
During the 115th Congress, Senators Burr and Klobuchar sent a letter to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs urging the Office of Management and Budget to update this categorization to capture the complex and technical nature of these professionals.
Congresswoman Norma Torres (D-CA) also introduced a companion bill, H.R. 1629, in the House of Representatives.
Findings from outreach workshops with first-responder entities during the next several months will be used to help develop the FirstNet Authority’s roadmap that will outline the organization’s plans to invest about $15 billion into the FirstNet system during the next 23 years, according to a FirstNet Authority official.
SOURCE: Urgent Communications
DATE: April 3, 2019
Last month, the FirstNet Authority board approved four broad principles to guide the organization’s investment decisions. But these FirstNet Authority workshops are designed to provide a better understand public-safety workflows and communications, so the roadmap that is expected to be released later this year can be much more detailed than the guiding principles, according to Chris Algiere, the FirstNet Authority’s director of federal and national programs for public-safety advocacy.
“I think the intent is to have something out there sooner—rather than later—this year and to have enough specificity around it where somebody could pick it up, look at it and kind of understand what we’re looking at and where we’re going,” Algiere said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications during the Winter Institute on the campus of Texas A&M University.
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Lawmakers Introduce Legislation to Reclassify 9-1-1 Dispatchers
In 2017, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) did not update the way 9-1-1 professionals are classified in the SOC after a push by public-safety groups to change their classification to a protective service occupation. OMB determined that public-safety telecommunicators would continue to be designated as office and administrative support occupations.
“From dispatching first responders to using advanced technology to retrieve locations, the work 9-1-1 operators do is essential during emergencies,” said Burr. “As the co-chair of the Congressional Next Generation 9-1-1 Caucus, I’m honored to introduce this bipartisan legislation with my colleague, Sen. Klobuchar, to better recognize the specialized training and critical responsibilities of these professionals.”
The SOC is a tool used by federal agencies to classify the workforce into useful, occupational categories. The SOC system categorizes 9-1-1 call-takers and dispatchers as office and administrative support occupations, which also includes secretaries, office clerks and taxi cab dispatchers. The 9-1-1 SAVES Act would instead recognize these dispatchers as protective service occupations, which includes lifeguards, firefighters, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) baggage screeners, among others.
Rep. Norma Torres also introduced a companion bill, H.R. 1629, in the House of Representatives.
“No matter where you are, if you dial 9-1-1, dispatchers are there to connect you to first responders,” said Klobuchar. “This legislation makes important updates to the classification of 9-1-1 dispatchers to better capture the complex and technical nature of their occupations while also providing valuable statistical tools for federal agencies. I’m proud to work with Sen. Burr to properly highlight dispatchers’ roles as safety leaders during times of crisis and the work they do to keep our communities safe.”
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By Dave Buchanan, Executive Director of Public Safety Advocacy
The latest stop along our public safety roadmap led the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) to Atlanta, Ga., last week for a regional forum with the Police Executive Forum (PERF). As a policy and research organization for the nation’s law enforcement community, PERF is delivering a series of forums that explore the adoption of FirstNet by police and other public safety users around the nation.
Dyre will support customers on a local and national level in her new role as a senior public-safety subject matter expert (SME). In addition to leading a team of public-safety experts to educate, advocate and problem solve with clients in the central U.S. region, she will be an advocate for 9-1-1 enhancement through participation in standard committees and focus groups.
Dyre previously worked to develop partnerships to advance 9-1-1 services throughout the state of Arizona on behalf of local and statewide entities as a project manager for the state of Arizona 9-1-1 Program Office.
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By April Ward Senior Media Relations Advisor First Responder Network Authority
Hattiesburg, Mississippi’s AAA Ambulance Service subscribed to FirstNet to help connect its 24-hour emergency and non-emergency medical transport service. FirstNet is helping the ambulance service to seamlessly communicate as they serve the 1.2 million residents living across 16 counties in southern Mississippi.
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.
