by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 11, 2021 | Comm Center News
Cooper was admitted to the hospital on February 27 after her lungs stopped. The night before, she had been ordered to work a 15-hour shift in the understaffed dispatch center despite reporting trouble breathing. She was still recovering from COVID-19, which her family believes she caught at work. Her asthma exacerbated the issues, but she was out of leave time. Yesterday, an attorney representing her husband and her estate filed a claim against the City of Phoenix alleging negligence and seeking a total of $35 million in damages…
by ECC Editor | Mar 11, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
A 911 dispatch looks about the same no matter where you are in the U.S.: sirens, strobe lights atop police cruisers, and first responders armed with guns and pepper spray, the reason for the call notwithstanding. But if you dial 911 in Denver, you might be greeted instead by a mental-health clinician and a paramedic driving a customized van equipped with food, water, and blankets. For the past six months, the city’s Support Team Assisted Response program, known as STAR, has been dispatching social workers instead of cops on nonemergency calls, with astoundingly good outcomes… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 11, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
It has been a while since I heard people claiming FirstNet (Built with AT&T) will replace Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems. I had thought by now most of us, including elected officials who hold the purse strings, would understand there is value in having both LMR and FirstNet.
FirstNet reports that the network is about 90% complete, more than a year ahead of schedule and double the number of first responders on the network. Still, there is a need for LMR systems and, just as important, there is a need for FirstNet and LMR to be able to work together to augment each other on a daily basis and during incidents. Public-safety community vendors, LMR, and FirstNet are working toward better ways to provide Push-To-Talk (PTT) across LMR and FirstNet for commonality of voice communications…
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 11, 2021 | Comm Center News
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey bill that would designate 911 dispatchers as first responders was approved by the state Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee this week.
The bill, sponsored by state Assemblyman John Armato (D-Atlantic), would formally recognize the role of public safety communications professionals in the work of law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies, and amend state code to refer to 911 operators as 911 first responder dispatchers…
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 11, 2021 | Articles, Comm Center News
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is testing a tool that could make it easier for the public-safety community to prototype cutting-edge analytics on streaming video.
The Analytics Container Environment (ACE), being developed to support NIST’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division, provides a modular framework for running containerized analytics on streaming video. Essentially, it could be used to detect footage of erupting fires, fights or other emergencies that demand swift public-safety response…
by AllThingsECC.com | Mar 11, 2021 | Comm Center News
POCATELLO — An effective dispatcher is part psychologist, part internet investigator and part advice nurse, all packaged neatly in the wrapper of an expert customer service provider.
Pocatello Police Department dispatcher April Neal hits all those nails on the head, according to dispatch lead Stephanie Harris.
“Her empathy; her passion; her work ethic; her ability to multi-task,” Harris said, listing the attributes that make Neal good at her job. “Her ability to remain calm in the heat of the moment, in the chaos…
