Top Comm Center Headlines
Adams County 9-1-1 Board looks at future funding needs (IL)
When You have an emergency, medical or otherwise, you call 9-1-1 for help. Funding to make that happen may be something you take for granted and local officials are looking at funding to keep a local 9-1-1 center here in Adams County viable. Wednesday night, the Joint...
Douglas County offering option to text 9-1-1 in an emergency (NV)
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — Douglas County announced a new 9-1-1 texting service so residents can “Call if you can – Text if you can’t” during an emergency. The county said people who are deaf or hard of hearing or those who are in a situation...
Couple Meets Dispatcher Who Talked Them Through At-Home Birth Of Daughter (CO)
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) – A husband and wife in Westminster can now laugh about the unplanned home birth of their second daughter. Though frantic, it happened smoothly thanks to the guidance of a city dispatcher. Five-week-old Claire Kit Riddle is as healthy and...
Hamilton County Emergency Communications District Board Chairman Don Allen Retires (TN)
The Hamilton County Emergency Communications District announced the retirement of Chairman Don Allen from the board of directors of the district effective Jan. 9. Mr. Allen began his service to the board in 1986 while the director of Hamilton County Emergency...
Local dispatchers win state award (FL)
TAMPA — Two members of the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office received statewide recognition this week. At the Florida Sheriffs Association Winter Conference, Public Safety Telecommunicators Brittany Wheeler and Taylor McCathern of the SCSO were named the 2020...
Texas Roadhouse cooks for Spokane dispatchers ahead of opening (WA)
SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Police Department is thanking Texas Roadhouse after an act of kindness filled the heart – and bellies – of local dispatchers. Police posted on Facebook that Texas Roadhouse staff working to open the new location in North Spokane brought...
Firefighters build wheelchair ramp for dispatcher (OK)
TULSA, Okla. — A group of Tulsa firefighters are going beyond the call of duty. A crew decided to build one of their fire dispatchers a wheelchair ramp after she had part of her leg amputated following a car crash last year. Firefighters say she had steps by her front...
Contract would increase pay for emergency dispatchers in Meriden (CT)
MERIDEN — City officials hope wage increases included in a newly proposed three-year labor agreement with the city’s emergency dispatchers will help the city attract and retain employees at the city’s dispatch center. The salary range Meriden has offered to...
Apple Watch emergency settings causing more 9-1-1 hang-ups, can save lives (WI)
The Eau Claire county communications center says it is having major issues with people calling 9-1-1 and hanging up. But as First News at Nine’s, Jonathan Fortier, shows us technology – like the Apple Watch – is making the number of hang-up calls even higher. The...
Florida Sheriff’s Association Dispatchers of The Year Brittany Wheeler and Taylor McCathern Honored.
Congratulation to Brittany and Taylor for receiving the Florida Sheriff's Association Dispatcher of the year award at the FSA Winter Conference. https://youtu.be/-s4hcAX7ggk
‘What’s your location?’: Dispatchers demonstrate how ‘Text to 911’ program works (VA)
HENRICO, Va. (WWBT) - Henrico County dispatchers say Monday’s false active shooter threat was the first time they had received a text like that through the “Text to 911” program. In June 2018 the Henrico County Emergency Communications Center incorporated the text to...
PA County 9-1-1 Calls Taking Longer to Dispatch Since Merger (PA)
In an emergency, every second counts, and in Lehigh County, those seconds have been mounting. Dispatch times — when a 9-1-1 call is received to when the first crew is dispatched — have grown by an average of two minutes since the June merger of the Lehigh County and...
Intelligent Public Safety in Action
I’m here at the Guardian Center. This full-scale training facility, located in Perry, GA, is where Public Safety goes to test new technologies and their operational impact on real-world scenarios. I watch from my secure vantage point in the Joint Operations Center...
Fiscal Court terminates 911 dispatcher (KY)
The Marshall County Fiscal Court last week announced it had denied the appeal of the former Marshall County E911 dispatcher who was terminated in December after being arrested and charged with a felony. Tonya Clevidence, 46, was arrested Dec. 9 by the Marshall County...
Dispatchers ready to move in Austintown (OH)
AUSTINTOWN — With a $503,000 expansion to the Austintown Township Police Department nearing completion, dispatchers in the building are eager to move to new space that not only will provide more elbow room, but also help improve efficiency in responding to emergencies...
City of Albany seeks emergency communications consultant services (NY)
ALBANY – Staffing shortages at the 9-1-1 communications center in the City of Albany is something NewsChannel 13 has been reporting on for months. The city is now taking proposals from emergency communications consultants. They want the consultant to come in and...
Vancouver Island dispatchers see rise in 911 calls due to snowfall (Canada)
Snow isn’t a common occurrence on southern Vancouver Island, and the sight has caused many people to reach out to emergency responders. E-Comm, which runs the South Island 9-1-1/Police Dispatch Centre out of Saanich, said that when snow started falling on Sunday night...
Patrol trooper, dispatcher recognized for life-saving efforts (OH)
Trooper Mitchell Reynolds of the State Highway Patrol’s Marietta post and Dispatcher Sara Morgan of the Cambridge Dispatch Center recently received letters of commendation and certificates for their life-saving efforts during an incident on Sept. 24 in Washington...
911 upgrades will track caller location, provide call-back numbers for dispatchers (AK)
Upcoming changes to the statewide 911 system are expected to drastically improve the ability of dispatchers to locate 911 callers in rural Alaska by recording cellphone call locations, according to the Department of Public Safety. When 911 callers in rural areas...
MPD names new Public Safety Answering Point Manager (ND)
Margaret Haugan is Minot Police Department’s new Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Manager, according to a Facebook post from the MPD. Haugan has worked for Minot Central Dispatch for 12 years. She will take over as PSAP manager after Barb McPeak retires...
Opinions
Gear Up
Kevin Pagenkop, ENP
For those with a medical background, one of the first acronyms learned is “PPE.” Whether gloves, a gown, or eye protection, Personal Protective Equipment is vital for responders and clinicians to reduce their exposure to pathogens and potential hazards.
Op-ed: Why first responders need a dedicated communications network
By Claude Cummings – Guest contributor
As one of the most devastating storms to ever hit Texas, Hurricane Harvey taught us many lessons. One of the clearest is that we need to equip Houston’s first responders and public servants with the strongest communications platform available — and now we can.
Why Train?
Heidi DiGennaro
When you started, everything was overwhelming. There was fear or excitement in touching the equipment, the constant dread you might break something, and the encouragement to go ahead from your trainer. Training seemed to take so long, and there was something both terrifying and liberating about operating on your own.
Vision to Reality
Andre V. Jones
“KSU SR42, 18J, Lot D, looking for a white Honda Civic, 1805 hours KNHD245” was the start of my career in public safety telecommunications (at Kennesaw State University [KSU], Department of Public Safety & University Police, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA). It was not, however, the career I initially chose. I started off wanting to be a doctor. More specifically, an OB/GYN. My logic was that people would always have babies (job security).
Route 91 Harvest Music Festival
I am going to tell my story about that day, the Oct. 1 Shooting, even though in my eyes, that’s not the official name. I can’t bring myself to call it that. I am going to be raw, honest, and open because I think that is what people should hear. It may not be what you want to hear, but it’s what I need for you to know.
Attitude Reflects Leadership
My manager told me once that by listening to radio traffic he knew who the supervisor on duty was in the dispatch center. He said there was something about their aura that had the ability to control the temperament in the room. When I actually considered it, he was correct; the attitude of employees is a direct reflection of their leadership.
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