by AllThingsECC.com | Dec 2, 2021 | Comm Center News
This commentary is by Stephen Whitaker of Montpelier, an author who has worked for 30 years on integrating planning, government transparency and accountability, public records access and more recently utility networks resiliency.
We should all take some time to appreciate that in Vermont we don’t have dozens of people drowning in a desperate, overcrowded raft accident, crossing the English Channel to safety. Or adults and children burning to death in a bus crash returning from Hajj, as in Bulgaria. Or maliciously mowed down at a holiday parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Our public safety may often be taken for granted in Vermont. But it’s important to recognize the very real need for substantial investments in, and ongoing maintenance of, our public safety infrastructure. These investments are essential to assure that not only can we call for help when we or a loved one needs it, but that those responding will have reliable communications service everywhere necessary to deliver that assistance…
by AllThingsECC.com | Dec 1, 2021 | Comm Center News
SEATTLE – Calls for help are sometimes meeting long delays as the city’s 911 system finds itself understaffed and overwhelmed.
It is a potentially critical collapse in Seattle’s public safety net and it could be months before the problem is solved. Until then, a balancing act is underway to better prioritize emergency calls. READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Dec 1, 2021 | Comm Center News
WILLIAMSPORT, Md. (WDVM) — A new system has been installed at the Washington County Emergency Services Center.
The new system is called Next Generation 911. It helps more accurately depict where a caller is calling from when they need help. READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 30, 2021 | Comm Center News
RALEIGH — The N.C. 911 Board has approved $8.45 million in grants to 12 local public safety answering points and $6 million for three statewide projects. The grants will fund improvements to 911 PSAPs, radio-and-dispatch equipment upgrades and creation of new Public Safety Answering Points.
The Boone Police Department received $252,565.43 for a radio replacement project, and Watauga County received $154,130.86 to upgrade equipment.
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 30, 2021 | Comm Center News
In an effort to better recruit and retain workers in the field, the Carteret County Board of Commissioners recently approved a 12.5% across-the-board pay increase for employees in the emergency communications center.
According to information from Carteret County Emergency Services director Stephen Rea, the center is experiencing a staffing shortage, with eight positions in currently unfilled. He said the job is a stressful one, leading to high turnover and difficulty with recruitment, but officials hope a pay boost will help attract and keep workers.
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 30, 2021 | Comm Center News
MERIDEN — The city’s pension board earlier this month voted not to approve an early retirement application with normal benefits for emergency communications dispatcher Elizabethan Marotti.
Marotti, who serves as president of the union that represents dispatchers, was among the city employees whose pension applications the board reviewed.
