Comm Center News
Dispatchers outperform national average (AZ)
Picture the chaos of the Payson dispatch center fielding a flood of calls during an emergency. The desks, each with an array of five or more computer screens, face each other in a room barely big enough to hold it all. “When the calls come in, they’re bouncing stuff...
Public-safety reps react to apparent demise of bill with NG911 funding – Urgent Communications
Public-safety leaders today expressed disappointment that efforts to secure federal funding for next-generation 911 (NG911) deployments likely will need to begin anew after hopes to pass the $2 trillion Build Back Better bill were dashed with an announcement of...
Rapid response: Valley counties move toward ‘seamless’ 9-1-1 (TX)
Dec. 17—Officials in the Lower Rio Grande Valley announced a new communications service called RGV9-1-1 to serve Willacy and Hidalgo counties. In partnership with Cameron County, the new emergency call operation will provide a "seamless" web to allow first responders...
Cocoa Beach Police Department Moves into New Communications Center on Orlando Avenue (FL)
Residents may have seen the communications microwave being installed on the tall, white tower in their secured parking area. That microwave communicates through line-of-sight with the tower near the country club tennis courts, allowing Cocoa Beach police dispatchers...
Jasper County ESD 4 to fund an additional 911 Dispatcher (TX)
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Department will soon add an additional dispatcher to the 911 Emergency Communications Center following an approval for funding from Emergency Services District #4. According to Beech Grove Fire Chief Jamie Gunter, this will go into effect...
Lake County receives award for emergency medical dispatch center (FL)
Lake County and the Office of Public Safety Support have been approved for re- accreditation as an Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) for emergency dispatching. The re-accreditation is awarded by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) and is...
Cherokee County 911 Announces Implementation Of Medical Priority Dispatch System (AL)
Cherokee County 911 is excited to announce the implementation of the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS®) to better serve the residents of Cherokee County in emergency situations. With this new system, emergency dispatchers will follow nationally recognized...
On the other end: 911 operators difficult but rewarding job (AZ)
TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — During the holidays many take the time to pause and spend time with friends and family. However, for those who work in emergency services, that isn't always possible. Tucson's Public Safety Communications Department is always staffed, and...
Kentucky State Police say dispatchers are needed
PERRY COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) - Governor Andy Beshear and the Kentucky State Police (KSP) announced 45 full-time and part-time telecommunicator positions across the Commonwealth on Thursday. “Telecommunicators are crucial to our law enforcement agencies,” said Gov....
5 key strategies to ensure E911 compliance
For those who manage phone systems, a key responsibility is tracking phone locations and 911 call routing. That task has been complicated by the rise of softphones and embedded dialers, coupled with the shift to cloud-based communications. The days of simply managing...
Suburban Philly Mom Meets 911 Dispatcher Who Coached Her Through Labor On Highway (PA)
Elizabeth Elyce Jalloh has a name with a story to tell. "Elizabeth" is an homage to her mom Charlotte Fatoma's grandmother, whom she says is beautiful, kind and caring. The baby's middle name is after the 911 dispatcher, Elyce Rivera, who coached Fatoma through the...
‘Dedication and professionalism’: Red Deer assistant deputy fire chief praises 911 dispatchers (Canada)
An assistant deputy chief with Red Deer Emergency Services is praising 911 dispatchers as the holiday season approaches. “It’s cold outside, we just got our first significant snowfall of the year. Our centre does get quite busy when we see increment weather like we...
North Bend transfers 911 dispatch service to Coos Bay (OR)
NORTH BEND, Ore. - A nationwide shortage of telecommunicators hits home as emergency officials look to solve dispatching issues in North Bend. “It does take a period of time to get a dispatcher trained and certified and up to the level that they can actually function...
Fort Sill implements new service allowing emergency texts to 911 (OK)
FORT SILL, Okla. (KSWO) - A new service at Fort Sill now lets you text 911 if you’re having an emergency. It’s extremely simple to use, you text 911 what your emergency is and your location and it will go right to a dispatcher, along with the latitude and longitude of...
Fayette public safety radio upgrades near completion (GA)
The SPLOST-funded overhaul includes repairs and improvements to seven current sites and the installation of additional towers and equipment shelters in Tyrone and in eastern Fayette along Hilo and Mud Bridge Roads. The “looped microwave” network will integrate fire...
Magen David Adom creates computer-aided dispatch system for Hatzalah South Florida
Magen David Adom’s groundbreaking technology, which powers the emergency dispatching systems in Israel for medical emergencies and the National Fire Rescue Service as well as for the EMS system in the Philippines, is now being used in the United States.The computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system developed by MDA—Israel’s national paramedic and Red Cross service—uses artificial intelligence (AI) to instantly locate and dispatch the nearest first responders and ambulances to a medical emergency.Hatzalah South Florida, an all-volunteer EMS organization serving Miami-Dade and Broward counties, announced that such technology is now powering its new dispatch system. It marks the first time MDA’s dispatch technology has been adopted by an EMS organization in the United States.
In a ceremony on Dec. 14 attended by several hundred people in Aventura, Fla., the two organizations signed an agreement to continue sharing knowledge and training, making years of cooperation official.Hatzalah South Florida is one of more than 50 independent hatzalah (Hebrew for “rescue”) volunteer ambulance services that serve Jewish communities in the United States, Israel and around the world.While Hatzalah South Florida will use technology already developed by MDA, the system was customized to meet specific needs. It was designed to be cloud-based, as opposed to the mainframe system MDA uses in its own National Operations Center, so Hatzalah South Florida can move its dispatching operations from location to location when necessary, an important consideration for the rapidly growing organization.
Baruch Sandhaus, Hatzalah South Florida executive director and an EMT, and Ido Rosenblat, Magen David Adom chief information officer and a Medevac paramedic, made the years of cooperation between their organizations official by signing an agreement to continue to share knowledge and training at a ceremony on Dec. 14, 2021. Credit: Courtesy.With Hatzalah South Florida’s new system, the organization’s dispatchers will be able to:Capitalize on AI technologies to dispatch multiple resources, including first responders and the nearest Hatzalah ambulance, instantly and simultaneously, without having to await action on the dispatcher’s part, ensuring the fastest possible response. Only those EMTs responding to the call are privy to information, maintaining the highest level of patient confidentiality.Instantly determine the first responders closest to the scene of a medical emergency before dispatching them. Because the system integrates real-time traffic data, the most relevant first responders are determined not just by geographic proximity, but by who can arrive fastest based on real-time traffic conditions.Pinpoint the exact location of cell-phone callers since 80 percent of emergency calls are made from mobile phones, and callers aren’t always certain where they are, especially in a car accident. People calling Hatzalah South Florida will be automatically geolocated by clicking on a text link that will provide their exact GPS coordinates to the CAD system.Respond to text messages. At times, people needing emergency help are unable to speak because of an injury or because they’re in a dangerous situation where it’s prudent to remain inaudible to avoid detection. Hatzalah’s system enables the organization to respond and converse via text, automatically in multiple languages.See live visual feeds of the scene. EMTs and paramedics using Hatzalah South Florida’s proprietary smartphone app can show dispatchers live visual streams from the scene of a medical emergency, enabling them to make crucial medical decisions and allocate resources, depending on the severity of the injury or illness.“While we brought our technology to South Florida first, we’re amenable to sharing it with any American EMS organization or PSAP [public-safety answering point],” said Ido Rosenblat, MDA’s chief information officer. “We’re in the life-saving business, so if there’s any way we can help anyone else achieve that goal—whether it’s through sharing our experience or our technology—we’re onboard.”The post Magen David Adom creates computer-aided dispatch system for Hatzalah South Florida appeared first on JNS.org.
Help is on the way: Efforts aim to improve response times, draw more into Erie County’s EMS (PA)
When a person calls 911 with a medical emergency in Erie County, they are likely unaware that it can sometimes be a challenge to find an ambulance that is staffed to respond. While there are dozens of paid and volunteer EMS services in Erie County, there are times...
Four Wireless Carriers Settle FCC 911 ‘Sunny Day Outage’ Investigations – Tech Giants
On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Enforcement Bureau issued a press release announcing that it resolved allegations against AT&T Corp. and AT&T Mobility LLC, Lumen Technologies Inc. (formerly CenturyLink), Intrado Safety Communication...
Worst-case scenario of new BC 911 system means ‘someone may die alone, listening to a recording’ (Canada)
Vancouver – Addressing concerns about lengthy wait times faced by callers needing emergency assistance, B.C.’s provider of 911 services says it’s implementing a new process, but the operators themselves are against the idea. Several times this year, E-Comm itself has...
Eleven calls to 911 prompts woman’s arrest (FL)
BRADENTON, Fla. (WWSB) - A woman warned about calling 911 unnecessarily was arrested recently after an 11th call within seven hours proved to be too much for Bradenton police. According to a probable cause affidavit, on Nov. 30, Cheryl Kay Hamon, 65, called the...
Upcoming Webinar
4.9 GHz Band: Review of the FCC Order
On October 22, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) released its Eighth Report and Order (Eighth R&O) regarding utilization of the 4940-4990 MHz (4.9 GHz) band that protects incumbent users as requested by us, the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA). This Eighth R&O addresses a number of issues related to the use of this band by public safety. Please join us for a briefing on this order and how it impacts public safety.
This presentation will be led by Chief Jeff Johnson (ret) and Attorney Jason Karp, one of the nation’s leading experts in public safety spectrum regulations.
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