CRESA earns reaccreditation (WA)

Emergency dispatch center Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency announced Tuesday it earned reaccreditation for the eighth time.

CRESA achieved the status of Medical Accredited Center of Excellence, awarded by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch.

Only 11 other dispatch centers around the world have been reaccredited as often as CRESA, the agency said in a news release…

Technology to enhance 911 dispatchers’ ability to receive videos, images and texts (NE)

KEARNEY — The technology that carried the first 911 calls to dispatchers barely could help victims to help themselves.

However, with advances in technology, tomorrow’s 911 calls will have all of the characteristics of how people communicate today.

That means dialing 911 will give people at both ends of the call the ability to share richer, more detailed data — such as videos, images and texts… READ MORE

Technical challenges delay Southwick-Westfield regional dispatch (MA)

Technical challenges delay Southwick-Westfield regional dispatch (MA)

SOUTHWICK — Technical issues are causing a delay to the initial time frame for Southwick emergency calls to transition to a regional emergency dispatch center in Westfield. The completion date has now been pushed out by about six months.

“There are a lot of technical issues that we still need to work out – and that’s been our challenge,” Southwick Police Chief Robert Landis said last week. “We have to go through a procurement process to do that right, and make sure all of our bases are covered. We don’t want to be coming back and piecemealing anything.”

Nina Barszcz, dispatch administrator for the Westfield Public Safety Communications Center, who has been overseeing the project, also said last week that she now anticipates Southwick will be fully merged into the center by the beginning of 2023…

Public Safety Advocate: Survey, Happy Anniversary FirstNet

We will be in Washington, DC next week to participate in a celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the signing of the bill that created FirstNet. Thus there will not be an Advocate next week but I will recap the anniversary activities the following week.

The survey we posted three weeks ago is still up and, again, if you have not had time to respond, I hope you will be able to take a few minutes to complete it this week. Thanks to all who have responded and those who will respond this week…

Next Generation 9-1-1 continues to be deployed across Virginia

Next Generation 9-1-1 continues to be deployed across Virginia

virginia map new
(© josephsjacobs – stock.adobe.com)

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management continues to work on the deployment of the Next Generation 9-1-1 system across the Commonwealth.

Fairfax County, in 2020, was the first public safety answering point (PSAP) to cutover to the AT&T Emergency Services IP Network. Today, the number of NG9-1-1 PSAPs in Virginia has increased to 25.

As described in the 2021 E9-1-1 Border Response Workgroup Report to the General Assembly, the Commonwealth’s legacy 9-1-1 system was built in the 1970s and is based on decades-old technology originally built to process landline calls. As Virginia moves forward to evolve 9-1-1 and ensure quality service to its residents and visitors, the Virginia 9-1-1 Services Board funded the move to a Next Generation 9-1-1 system…

FEMA Awards AT&T Four Contracts to Modernize the Agency’s Communications Capabilities

FEMA Awards AT&T Four Contracts to Modernize the Agency’s Communications Capabilities

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded AT&T four separate contracts for modernized communications capabilities to help FEMA improve its ability to deliver its mission to help people before, during, and after disasters.

The four Task Orders, awarded via the General Services Administration’s Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract, are valued at more than ~$167 million over five years if all options are exercised.

In awarding these agreements, FEMA selects AT&T as its single integrated communications provider for the vast majority of its telecommunications services. These awards allow FEMA to identify and acquire advanced communications capabilities quickly and efficiently…