by ECC Editor | Jul 9, 2021 | Comm Center News
Leslie Cheatham is a person who has spent most of her life helping others, whether as a telecommunicator for the Town of Farmville, an EMT in her earlier years as a in Campbell County and Pamplin or as a community member who tries to quietly help others’ satisfy needs.
Cheatham joined the Town of Farmville eight years ago as a dispatcher. Now 49, she said she didn’t feel like she could spend as much time out in the field as an EMT as she used to, but being a dispatcher still keeps her involved with helping lives.
“I do miss being out in the field with the EMS, but I do enjoy being a telecommunicator also. I’m still able to be involved, just not so much hands on,” she said… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Jul 9, 2021 | Comm Center News
The Department of Homeland Security has selected San Antonio-based SecureLogix to proceed with the second phase of a cybersecurity architecture designed to protect multimedia content in Next Generation 9-1-1 emergency communication systems.
SecureLogix received the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II award after the software company completed feasibility demonstration work, DHS said Wednesday.
The goal of the project is to secure images, voice and videos using a platform that supports DHS’ emergency communications cybersecurity center concept… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 9, 2021 | Comm Center News
EBENSBURG — Cambria County’s Emergency Management Director will soon have new shoes to fill.
Art Martynuska, who has been in charge of emergency services in Cambria County for the past three years, was named the acting deputy director of 911 Thursday following the retirement of longtime director Robbin Melnyk.
Martynuska will hold both titles of emergency management and 911 director, and he is set to receive an additional $1,000 per month in compensation while he serves in the interim…
by ECC Editor | Jul 9, 2021 | Comm Center News
CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Centre County 9-1-1 received 565 calls in four hours during Wednesday’s thunderstorms. Dispatchers were answering just over two calls per minute, all while facing an employee shortage.
“9-1-1 is suffering manpower problems across the state and across the nation,” said Norm Spackman II, director of Centre County 9-1-1. “Seems like less people are less interested in working in 9-1-1 centers.”
He said their work is essential, and it takes brave, level-headed individuals… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Jul 9, 2021 | Comm Center News
MINNEAPOLIS — As Hennepin EMS gets set to unveil its new blue uniforms, after decades of showing up at emergency scenes in their trademark “UPS brown,” the paramedics union on Wednesday argued that the change could potentially put lives at risk by making medics look even more like police officers than before.
While the agency’s leadership said the move was intended to avoid confusion, in reality the new blue uniforms “failed to separate (union) members from law enforcement,” said a statement by Hennepin County Association of Paramedics and EMTs (HCAPE), which represents some local paramedics and dispatchers… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jul 9, 2021 | Comm Center News
WILBRAHAM — The town is now dispatching emergency services for Hampden and Wilbraham.
As of midnight on June 30, Hampden’s dispatch operation “went dark,” said Town Administrator Bob Markel. The transition of the Hampden operation to Wilbraham has been a gradual one as the future of emergency dispatch services has been debated multiple times over the past few years. This past year, the board began exploring its options more closely as costs to maintain its dispatch totaled nearly $450,000 per year…
