Traffic diverts around downed power lines on August 30, 2021 in Louisiana after Hurricane Ida.
Social-media users blamed mobile provider AT&T for widespread cell service issues during Hurricane Ida, saying they were unable to contact friends and family impacted by the storm.
In addition to issues with personal calls, several 911 dispatch centers in and around New Orleans crashed as Ida made landfall on Monday, leaving thousands of residents and concerned family members scrambling for emergency help.
One user tweeted Monday, “Do better AT&T! I have reached every person in New Orleans who has Verizon. My mother is completely unreachable as well as friends who have AT&T. No one knows if any of them are safe!”
On Facebook, users requested help from the United Cajun Army, a volunteer group that organizes boat rescues…
A little more than a year into Denver’s program designed to redirect emergency calls more suited for social services than police, none of those redirected calls have resulted in arrests .
The civilian-centered Support Team Assisted Response program sends pairs of mental health clinicians and paramedics to low-level, nonviolent situations after a 911 dispatcher screens calls and determines the appropriate response. STAR has responded to more than 1,600 calls since it began operating in June 2020, according to data presented Monday to Denver City Council’s Budget and Policy Committee…
Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Shawn White was appalled at the wasted time, energy, and resources experienced by officers as they serve the community.
Instead of throwing up his hands in frustration, White determined to find a solution.
Thus was born a unique and successful collaboration between the Huntington Beach Police Department and Joe Ramirez, CEO of Apex Mobile, an Orange County company offering tech solutions to the public safety sector…
In the years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, the 911 system had undergone a major overhaul. The aging telephone system was replaced. Separate centers for medical, police and fire calls were consolidated under one roof. And new call-routing technology to prevent the whole thing from going down during a disaster was scheduled to be installed early next year.
Then Hurricane Ida hit, and the 911 call center crashed, failing its first major test.
Calls for help didn’t go through. The center was offline for 13 hours on Monday. The Orleans Parish Communication District, which runs the dispatch center, was forced to take to Facebook to tell people that if they had an emergency, they should walk to a nearby fire station or flag down a police officer to report it…
He has trained firefighters in Afghanistan and battled blazes in minus 50 C in Nunavut. He also survived a firetruck rollover in the Interior.
And he is always seeking a new challenge.
Now Geoffrey Spriggs is the new deputy fire chief for the City of Maple Ridge and is looking forward to working in a dynamic, young community where he can inspire future leaders.
Spriggs, who hails from Langford on Vancouver Island, was only 19-years-old when he started as a volunteer firefighter. It was almost by accident, said the 46-year-old from his office in Hall 1. He was interviewed as part of an investigation into a deck fire at a neighbour’s house and was subsequently invited to the firehall where he was asked to join the volunteer service…
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Empty cow pastures on one day can be bustling with hundreds of firefighters the next as fire camps with colorful tent cities spring up.
More than 20,000 wildland firefighters are battling some 100 large wildfires in the U.S. West, and truckloads of supplies and equipment are needed to keep them effective at fighting flames for weeks on end.
“We’ll set up a small village,” said Evans Kuo, a “Type 1” incident commander assigned to the nation’s biggest and most dangerous wildfires. His incident command team has 44 members. “The main idea of the camp is to not only house the incident command team, but also house the base camp that has food, water, sleeping and showers.” … READ MORE
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
