by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 12, 2021 | Comm Center News
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Times Recorder will produce a series of Zanesville 2021 stories looking at the challenges facing the city of Zanesville this year and what is being done to overcome them.
ZANESVILLE — After ValueCare notified the Muskingum County EMS Board that it would no longer respond to 911 emergency calls starting Sept. 1, the city has been left with two EMS services to respond to calls — Genesis HealthCare System’s Community Ambulance Service and the Zanesville Fire Department.
Zanesville Fire Department Chief Jeff Bell recently discussed the situation with Zanesville City Council’s public safety committee, suggesting the city consider looking at expanded fire-based EMS service…
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 12, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
Proposed budget-reconciliation legislation introduced in the U.S. House calls for $10 billion in federal funding to support implementing IP-based next-generation 911 (NG911) in the United States during the next four years, according to language in the massive multi-trillion-dollar budget-reconciliation proposal.
Grant money would be available to support eligible entities “implementing [NG911], operating and maintaining [NG911], training related to implementing, maintaining and operating [NG911], … and planning and implementation activities,” according to legislative text released on Thursday…
by ECC Editor | Sep 12, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
20 years ago, on September 11 planes hijacked by Al Qaeda operatives crashed into New York’s World Trade Center, killing more than 3,000 people and injuring thousands of others. After the attack, more than 100,000 responders and recovery workers from every US state – along with some 400,000 residents and other workers around ground zero – were exposed to a toxic cloud of dust that fell as a ghostly, thick layer of ash and then hung in the air for more than three months. Till date, the 2001 attack remains the deadliest terrorist attack in US history.
Needless to say, it was an emergency of epic proportions. But contrary to the opinions of some, the horrific incident does not have any correlation with the 9-1-1 US Emergency Phone Number helpline. For the uninitiated, the three digit number can generally be used for any police, fire or medic and provides direct access to a public safety answering point. The system has been used ever since the 1960s… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 12, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Edward Parkinson, CEO First Responder Network Authority
Soon after the planes hit the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, Brad Morrell deployed from Utah to New York City as part of an urban search and rescue team.
Aboard the military airlift transporting rescuers, Brad remembers seeing otherwise empty skies except for the fighter jets escorting their plane. When they got to the fallen towers, the scene was unlike anything else he and his teammates had experienced.
In the initial days, cell service was non-existent, land-mobile radios were down, and repeaters to boost signals weren’t working. The only communications available to Brad and his team were two-way pagers they brought from Utah.
“We knew that comms was an issue. For the first few days, we couldn’t talk from Ground Zero back to our base of operations,” said Brad who now serves as the FirstNet Authority’s Director of Network and Technology Operations.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Sep 12, 2021 | Comm Center News
Sep. 9—To improve public safety and the efficiency of the Barton County Communications Department in light of COVID-19, the County Commission Tuesday morning OKed purchase of a four-person dispatching console for 911, utilizing federal pandemic relief funding.
On Aug. 12, Barton County invited proposals for an integrated IP-based, four-position dispatch console that would work with existing equipment in the Communications Center, 1300 Stone, Great Bend. Sealed bids were accepted until Aug. 24, with the only bid coming from Motorola for a MCC 7500E station at total cost of $ 634,436, said Grant Coordinator Sue Cooper.
“There is a wait time to get the equipment built, programed and shipped,” Communications Director Dena Popp said. It is a minimum of four to six months before it would arrive here…
by ECC Editor | Sep 12, 2021 | Comm Center News
New York Gov. Hochul has chosen the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks to sign a bill that officially extends “first responder” designation to all 911 operators and dispatchers across the state, the Daily News has learned.
There are thousands of 911 dispatchers and operators spread throughout the state, but unlike firefighters, police officers and medics, they have never had the official first responder classification.
Their unions have lobbied for years for the designation, which would give the workers better access to federal grants and other financial support to improve training, equipment, morale and retention… READ MORE
