Longtime Berkshire County Sheriff’s dispatcher Sheila Hughes dies

PITTSFIELD — The “sudden, tragic” death Tuesday of Berkshire County Sheriff’s dispatcher Sheila Hughes, known for her “calm voice,” has sent a shock through the sheriff’s office and larger community.

Berkshire County Sheriff Thomas Bowler said Wednesday morning that there are “unanswered questions here,” since Hughes, 60, was not known to have an illnesses that might have caused her to die so suddenly.

“I spoke to her fiance this morning,” Bowler said. “He and the family are distraught. They’re looking for some answers medically, as we all are”…

Regional 911 Center Feasible In Acton, Concord: Study (MA)

ACTON, MA — A study focused on the possibility of a regional emergency dispatch center between Acton and Concord found that the project was feasible for both towns.

Ahead of the presentations, town and public safety leaders have had discussions with Teamsters Local Union No. 25 who represent the Public Safety Dispatchers in each community, in order to ensure their inclusion and input in the process going forward… READ MORE

Verizon Attempts Interoperability Coalition?

By Richard Mirgon, Public Safety Consultant

This is a message for Verizon and Andres Irlando, a Verizon senior vice president and president of the carrier’s Public Sector and Verizon Connect unit. You are going down a path that is well traveled and not new. You can go back decades and see all the work done by thousands to resolve public safety interoperability and that path is lined with many failures.

Now since I am somewhat of an expert on this topic let me help you out with some observations and good history. You can look at all the standards work the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) has done, along with the work the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) has done. There are standards that cover everything from CAD to CAD interfaces, NextGen Networks to Land Mobile Radio (LMR). The largest having been P25. They have all had varying levels of success but none of those have solved the problem…

911 calls due to power outages overloading EMSA, agency says, asking Tulsans to prepare and be patient (OK)

With power outages affecting the Tulsa area because of a strain to the electrical grid caused by subfreezing temperatures, authorities are urging residents to be mindful when considering calling 911.

In a news release Tuesday, EMSA spokesman Adam Paluka said the influx of calls from people who rely on powered medical equipment has made for an unsustainable call volume at the agency’s 911 Communications Center… READ MORE