by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 23, 2021 | Comm Center News
“911, what’s the location of your emergency?”
That’s the question Ryan Tunks could be heard asking Thursday from his work station on the second floor of the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s Emergency Response Center. Eyes flitting between six different computer screens while radio chatter echoed around the room, he’s a shift supervisor and one of four dispatchers on duty Thursday morning fielding emergency, administrative and accidental 911 calls made by Kenai Peninsula residents that day.
The ERC building, tucked quietly behind the Soldotna Police Department near Safeway, responds to calls from all over the Kenai Peninsula Borough, including every 911 call made from a cellphone in the borough and every landline 911 call not made in Kenai, Homer or Seward…
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 23, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Over the last two decades, the emergency-management community has recognized that natural disasters and other emergency situations don’t always follow county lines or town borders. Interagency collaboration is vital—mutual-aid agreements expand the capacity of first responders, for example, and data-sharing solutions can give local telecommunicators regionwide data at the click of a mouse button.
One such cloud-based advancement scheduled to soon be released by the New York-based emergency technology company RapidSOS, the Emergency Data Exchange, will enable real-time interoperability (the ability of computer or software systems to exchange information) through digital automation—even if different centers aren’t using the same programs or devices…
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 23, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Bruce Fitzgerald, Senior Public Safety Advisor, Emergency Management, First Responder Network Authority
September is National Preparedness Month(link is external), an important reminder for Americans to prepare for disasters and emergencies. The 2021 theme is “Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protecting everyone you love.”
In public safety, every month is Preparedness Month. One of the best ways for the public safety community to prepare for emergencies and disasters is with FirstNet, the nationwide public safety broadband network.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 23, 2021 | Comm Center News
Three members of Strongsville’s safety forces have been honored by the Knights of Columbus St. Francis of Assisi Council for outstanding work in 2020.
Police Officer of the Year Mike Mendise, Firefighter of the Year Andy Smeader and Dispatcher of the Year Angela Love have all received plaques for their dedication.
Love, who joined Southwest Emergency Dispatch Center in 2018, brought with her “a vast amount of experience, a jaw-dropping work ethic and a wonderfully sunny disposition,” her nominating letter says…
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 23, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Bruce Fitzgerald, Senior Public Safety Advisor, Emergency Management, First Responder Network Authority
With increasing numbers of emergency management agencies and other public safety agencies and partners using FirstNet, the First Responder Network Authority’s (FirstNet Authority) Emergency Management Community of Practice is pleased to share a resource guide for emergency managers. Together our staff has more than 130 years of experience in the emergency management field, and we are pleased to provide an overview of features and functions that emergency managers may use in their daily and emergency response roles. Many of the topics covered in the guide are applicable for coordinating response in the field or when an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been activated. READ FULL ARTICLLE
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 23, 2021 | Comm Center News
YOUNGSTOWN — A new county registry for residents with special needs or mental health disorders is intended to better inform police officers and other responders during emergencies.
The new Mahoning County Special Needs Registry is a free and voluntary service allowing residents to register “vital” information that police should know in emergencies, such as a registrant’s cognitive disorders or developmental disabilities, triggers associated with their condition, their emergency contact information, a physical description and a current photograph, according to a Tuesday news release from the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office
If a registrant’s information is on-file, the system alerts county 911 dispatchers, who can then share that information with responders, according to the release…
