HOLBROOK — Director Steve Hooke is pleased to announce that staff at the Holbrook Regional Emergency Communications Center (HRECC) has formally moved into the new facility as of today.
Construction of the new 5,967 square-foot building began in September 2019 and was officially completed late last year. Since then staff have been slowly transitioning equipment to the new facility…
Nebraska is looking at the final stages of establishing Next Generation 911 services but, according to local officials, Platte County is already on the way to achieving it.
“It’s basically an overhaul of the 911 system to try to bring call centers into the digital age statewide,” said Rachel Pensick, communications director at the Joint Communications Center (JCC). “It’s more digital, it helps with getting locations and… developing a digital base system statewide”… READ MORE
Lincoln, Neb. — By a vote of four-to-one, the Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) today, January 5, approved entering into a contract with Lumen (formerly
CenturyLink) to provide Next Generation 911 (NG911) services.
“I’d like to thank everyone involved in this process for their support,” said District 3, Commissioner Tim Schram. “This is a collaborative effort and we are excited to continue the process to bring improved 911 services to all Nebraskans”… READ MORE
DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — A COVID-19 outbreak has led to staffing shortages at Durham’s 911 call center.
The issue is a story CBS 17 reported in December. It’s meant some calls are now being answered by Raleigh’s 911 call center. The shortage started last month and continues.
A longtime firefighter and President of the Professional Firefighters of Durham, Jimie Wright, said it has created challenges.
“It’s concerning to us, it should be concerning to them,” Wright said… READ MORE
Sarah Hills, Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon, Lead Dispatcher, CTO, RPL, APCO Awards Committee Chair
How did you get your start in emergency communications?
I applied for the job while on maternity leave with my second child in February 2007. In August 2007, I received a call asking if I was still interested in a position in the local police department’s dispatch center. I did not remember applying for this job, but thought, what the heck. I had no idea what a dispatcher did. In fact, my idea of a 911 center was a national center that took calls for the entire nation and then gave them to individual first responder departments for response. After my first sit along, I was hooked. Today I cannot see myself doing any other profession; I love helping others on the phone, training and mentoring in the center, and volunteering on the national level…
Repeal of T-Band Giveback
As many of you know, there was jubilation within the public-safety community when the bill that included formation of FirstNet was signed in 2012. That is until we came to the condition that, in ten years, eleven major metropolitan areas and their surrounding suburbs were to lose public-safety spectrum along with some businesses using spectrum previously allocated to TV stations. This 470–512-MHz spectrum had been broken into 6-MHz swaths to accommodate TV stations. Some of these blocks were assigned to public-safety agencies in major metro areas and some to business users. This T-Band spectrum is shared spectrum that would otherwise serve TV channels 14-20…
