The West Central Joint Dispatch Center, which is based in Jacksonville but handles emergency communications for several west-central Illinois counties, has been recognized as an Accredited Center of Excellence for its emergency fire dispatching — making it one of just...

By the Editorial Board St. Louis city’s response times for 911 calls are slowly improving but are nowhere close to where they need to be. In what we suspect are the vast majority of cases, when citizens place a call to 911, they are experiencing some kind of crisis...

DULUTH, MN. (KBJR) - More than $1 million in federal money is heading to Duluth soon, most of it to improve the city’s 911 system. Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith announced the funding on Monday. It’s part of a recently signed appropriations bill and...

The Jackson Police Department (JPD) has 48 positions budgeted in dispatch communications, yet only 32 of those are filled. Across the country, police departments struggle to hire enough employees to keep jobs in dispatch communications filled. “All across the country,...

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) -- When you call 911, you want someone to answer. But as more and more cities struggle to hire dispatchers, concerns grow over safety. “We’re down to five full-time dispatchers when we budgeted for eight, we’ve been trying but we just can’t...

TUCSON (KVOA) - A year ago, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey declared an emergency at the border and deployed the Arizona National Guard to assist law enforcement agencies in Southern Arizona. Now, more than 200 Arizona National Guard members are surging personnel capacity for...

When the city of St. Louis took over its police department from the state in 2013, it immediately cut the number of 911 dispatchers. Now, it’s absolutely desperate to find more of them. With 40% of 911 callers being put on hold, some for 10 minutes or more, St. Louis...

DAVIESS CO. – A new 911 Central Dispatch Center is up and running in Daviess County. The new center combined dispatchers from the City of Washington and the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department. Daviess County Sheriff Gary Allison says the idea was formed many years...

The Fairbanks Emergency Communications Center sent one of its dispatchers to an annual manager’s program last fall for rigorous skill development tailored to emergency medical services (or EMS) leaders. In January, the program, operated by Fitch and Associates,...

Lewis County is actively searching for a “proven leader” to plan, coordinate and manage the operations and activities of the county’s 911 communications center. “Long-term planning for the future of 911 in our county is happening now,” said County Manager Erik Martin....

ATON — The Preble County Sheriff’s Office recently recognized the 2021 Employee of the Year award winners in each division of the office. Employees are chosen based on several criteria, including professionalism, job knowledge and ability, teamwork, performance, and...

A 62-year-old man on his way to work as a New Jersey State Police telecommunicator was killed in an early-morning crash on Friday, March 11, authorities said. Daryl Akers Jr. was heading north in a Jeep on Route 206 when a GMC Silverado heading south cross over the...

TNS) — Arnold resident Kirsten Neumann's daughter Vivian is 4 years old and has been in remission for a year from stage four neuroblastoma — a cancer that grows in immature nerve tissue. Vivian is participating in a clinical trial for a drug to treat the illness. On...

Emergency call operators have to deal with a lot of stress on the job. On a typical day, they may have to deal with medical emergencies or crimes in progress. But most go their entire careers without themselves stepping into the role of midwife. Not 38-year-old Katie...

Sherman, Texas -- Eric M. Bridges, Executive Director of Texoma Council of Governments (TCOG) announced today the success of TCOG’s annual Texoma Texoma Regional 9-1-1 Telecommunicators Banquet. On Thursday, March 10, telecommunicators within the region were awarded...

FirstNet has been an “undisputed success” for AT&T, growing 60% in 2021 to generate $1.7 billion in revenue for the carrier giant that has been contracted to build and maintain the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN), according to an AT&T...

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Emergency Communications Center (HRECC), or 911 center, is looking to hire six full-time communicators to assist with emergency and non-emergency calls. You do not need any experience and they will give you...

AUSTIN (KXAN) — South by Southwest is here and so are the crowds. “Thousands upon thousands of more people coming to Austin,” said Lt. Ken Murphy, the head of emergency communications with the Austin Police Department. “Instead of overloading those sectors with...

Garfield County’s emergency services operate with 21 people directly responsible for running dispatch but only two speak Spanish, a Garfield County official said to the county’s Latino Community Committee on Wednesday. “But one isn’t very fluent,” said Tom Holman,...