Yellowknife proposes emergency medical dispatch software for second year in a row (Canada)

by | Nov 18, 2021 | Comm Center News

For the second year in a row, city staff are proposing spending about $50,000 on emergency medical dispatch software in the City of Yellowknife draft budget. 

The 57-page document, released last week, sets aside $53,000 for the dispatch software “to ensure a consistently high quality of service to everyone.”

The software is designed to provide a live-directed guide to navigate various types of medical emergencies and direct the caller in real time. The software would replace the current process of referencing a paper-based binder to determine the appropriate emergency response, or dispatchers operating from memory… READ MORE 

FirstNet Authority board renames committees, fills key roles

by | Nov 18, 2021 | Comm Center News

A FirstNet Authority board featuring seven new members conducted its first meeting today and immediately implemented some changes, including renaming three of the four board committees in an effort to better describe their evolving roles in the organization.

New FirstNet Authority Chair Steve Benjamin—the mayor of Columbia, S.C., who was appointed to lead the board last month—described the opportunity to serve on the FirstNet Authority board as a “sacred trust,” expressing enthusiasm about working with other board members and the organization’s staff to oversee the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN). This sentiment echoed by other new board members during the meeting, which was webcast…

Hernando Sheriff’s Office recruiting staff for county’s emergency center (FL)

by | Nov 18, 2021 | Comm Center News

SPRING HILL — Ileana Scopano of Shady Hills says there isn’t much that can faze her, and that might be the key to a new career as an emergency operator at the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.

She’s working as a surgical assistant in a hospital operating room right now, but wants a change.

“When you’ve been doing OR for a long, long time, this is kind of parallel,” she said. “The level of stress? I can do stress. This would actually be a whole lot easier to do… READ MORE

911 Dispatch Center For San Mateo County Awarded For Excellence (CA)

911 Dispatch Center For San Mateo County Awarded For Excellence (CA)

by | Nov 18, 2021 | Comm Center News

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County’s 911 dispatch center was recognized as an Accredited Center of Excellence by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, the county announced Thursday.

The honor is the highest distinction given to emergency communication centers. San Mateo County’s 911 communications center is one of nine dispatch centers in California and 97 in the world to receive the award.

“Centers who earn Accredited Center of Excellence status are the embodiment of dispatch done right so we are very proud to earn this recognition,” Natasha Claire-Espino, San Mateo County Public Safety Communications Director, said in a news release. “Our dispatchers take great pride in doing their best and go all-in to consistently demonstrate pride, teamwork, and innovation by putting their communities first. Our partnering agencies often recognize our dispatchers for being the best at what they do, and they work hard to maintain that level of performance…

Public Safety Advocate: Throwback Thursday

by | Nov 18, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News

This week’s Advocate is a throwback to 2017 when I wrote about the difference between network capacity requirements of commercial broadband networks and capacity requirements of public-safety broadband networks. This is a good time for this particular throwback since we are currently working with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to determine the highest and best use for 4.9 -GHz spectrum. When establishing capacity needs of a broadband network, it is important to understand that commercial network capacity assumptions do not hold up when it comes to public safety. As you will discover below, this is because most public-safety incidents happen within small geographic areas. Therefore, the capacity needed during these incidents has to be measured based on what is available within a single cell sector or cell site…