Every Friday we honor the people who help us during our darkest times. This week we send the First Responder Friday salute to a veteran dispatcher Judy Puma. Can you imagine a more stressful job than answering the calls of people who are in pure panic mode? Judy Puma...

STUART, Fla. — Martin County is creating a clearer line of communication for first responders. County leaders announced plans to build a new public safety communications tower in Hobe Sound to enhance radio coverage for paramedics, fire rescue, and law...

SPARTA, NJ -  On a fall day in 2019, a young boy riding his bicycle rolled onto the main road near his Sussex County home.  The reverberations from an oncoming dump truck would signal danger to any adult.  For this boy they foretold death.  Someone...

12 Kentucky State Police telecommunicators, one of whom is from Grayson County, were recognized at graduation ceremonies for the 16th class of the agency’s in-house Telecommunications Academy. KSP Commissioner Rodney Brewer told the graduates that the role of a...

ROSEVILLE — A South East Regional Emergency Services Authority dispatcher recently received an award for 2020 Telecommunicator of the Year. Kathryn Schmelzer has worked for SERESA for two years and was nominated for the award by her supervisors. She was chosen over...

GIBSON COUNTY, Tenn. — The Gibson County Emergency Dispatch held a social distancing trunk-or-treat. Cars drove by with kids inside in the Gibson County E-911 parking lot. First responders passed out candy in order to bring a since of normalcy during COVID-19. Because...

A group of 14 Butler County fire departments was hoping to receive $2 million to replace obsolete radios, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected the application this week. “We are disappointed that we were not awarded the grant but understood going in...

EVERETT — It could have been a disaster for the Snohomish County 911 dispatch center in September. After working 1½ shifts in a room with other radio dispatchers, in the glass-walled building that’s like a nerve center for all first-responders in Snohomish County, a...

From now through December 4, NENA is accepting session proposals for the NENA 2021 Conference & Expo taking place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, OH from June 26 – July 1.
Presenting a session at NENA 2021 is an excellent opportunity to share your knowledge and experience with an audience of 9-1-1 professionals eager to gain and share information. It is also your chance to give back to the profession and help inspire, inform, and educate attendees on a variety of important issues. To ensure your submission receives due consideration, please ensure that:

Your proposal is issue-focused, not product-focused;
Your 65-word presentation description contains a precise objective;
You are able to identify three clear audience takeaways;
You fully complete all areas of the submission form and provide accurate contact information, including phone number(s), email address(es), and mailing address(es);
You use proper grammar, capitalization, and punctuation; and
You provide the names of any co-presenters with your submission (or prior to the close of the submission window).

 Your session should address one of the following topic areas:

Analytics & Data

Cybersecurity

Facility Planning

Frontline Skills

GIS & Databases

Innovation
International
Leadership

Management

Network Technology

Next Generation 9-1-1

Preparedness
PSAP Technology
Pub Ed & Outreach

Public Policy

Standards & Best Practices

Train the Trainer

Wellness          

Click here to submit your great idea today! All proposals are due by Friday, December 4.  
Session submitters will receive acceptance or rejection notifications by mid-January. Submitters selected for the conference will receive multiple communications from NENA and will be invited to at least one session facilitation webinar. Finally, new for 2021, breakout presenters will be required to submit a handout of key session takeaways to be provided to conference attendees via the event app (due to NENA by June 1).Benefits for those selected to present at NENA 2021 include:The lowest possible rate for full-conference registration or a free one-day pass if you will only be attending on the day you present;Access to the speaker lounge for the duration of the conference;A special speaker thank-you gift; andBio and profile listed in the NENA 2021 conference app.
If you do not receive either an acceptance or rejection email from NENA by January 15, then please contact Lisa Fulton.

When seconds matter and lives hang in the balance, communications among first responders is critical. It’s something most people don’t even think about but as a leader in law enforcement, this is the sort of thing that keeps me up at night. I want our officers to have...

Tuesday was a special day for a Watson boy who received a special achievement award by the Effingham County 911 Board. Lucas Grupe pulled up to the Effingham County Office Building inside a fire engine manned by members of the Effingham Fire Department. Grupe was...

Dispatchers often are the under recognized members of an emergency response team, working behind the scenes, gathering essential information from often frantic callers and relaying that critical information to first responders. According to 911dispatcheredu.org,...

(WTVG) - The Wood County Sheriff’s Office is now able to handle 9-1-1 interactions through text message, allowing those who feel they would be endangered by placing a call. Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn says: “Dialing 9-1-1 in an emergency is still the preferred way to...

San Francisco supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to pass the Caution Against Racially and Exploitative Non-Emergencies (CAREN) Act, which, if passed into law, would make it illegal for white people to call 9-1-1 just because a Black person dares to exist in ways...

THORNVILLE — In an election year with the board of Perry County commissioners placing a levy on the ballot to fund the county’s 911 service, they probably don’t welcome dissension in the ranks of the county’s firefighters. But they’re getting it from the Thorn...

linois State Police has recognized the contributions of four people for their professionalism and exemplary service. “The extraordinary dedication and commitment to service displayed every day by these individuals is a true representation of the motto of the ISP —...