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The 9-1-1 Take: Spring 2020
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 The 9-1-1 Take by John Hunt
Remote and tactical dispatching with FirstNet
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Telecommunicators take on roles beyond traditional dispatching—for backup assistance to other jurisdictions during disasters or tactical dispatching in the field. FirstNet plays an important role in these advanced dispatching efforts.
TERT and FirstNet
When disaster strikes and emergency communications centers need backup, they may turn to a Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce (TERT). TERT programs assist emergency communication centers affected by catastrophic events.
With Next Generation 9-1-1, TERT programs take on even more promise. Next Generation 9-1-1 is upgrading the nation’s 9-1-1 system from analog to standards-based IP platform, and one of many benefits to the upgrade is 9-1-1 calls can be transferred to other jurisdictions with caller data. That presents the opportunity for virtual TERT response.
The Collier County (FL) Sheriff’s Office is preparing for this future. Before the county fair closed down early, the Sheriff’s Office had planned an exercise—with preplanning and the right technology—to transfer non-emergency calls from the fair in Naples to dispatchers located at the Charleston County Consolidated 9-1-1 Center in South Carolina. The calls would be transferred from Collier County to Charleston over a VESTA 9-1-1 call handling system. The remote dispatchers would process the call, enter it into cloud-based RapidDeploy CAD, and then use a push-to-talk (ePTT) service to dispatch responders at the fairgrounds, who would access the systems via a FirstNet connection provided by a deployable. All of this would occurr from dispatch workstations in Charleston.
Tactical dispatching and FirstNet
Tactical dispatchers support scenarios needing onsite assistance: a quarantine zone, a barricade or hostage situation, a large planned event, a SWAT team, or an active shooter incident.
Tactical dispatchers must remain operational at all times, no matter the conditions. FirstNet is built for the demands of emergency communications. The network is built to be resilient and hardened to help responders stay connected during disasters. Public safety users get priority and preemption so they have a fast lane during times of network congestion. FirstNet has the capacity and coverage to operate across urban, rural, island, and tribal geographies.
That’s why Harrison County Communications Center in Ohio uses FirstNet for tactical dispatching. Andrew Knapp, Director, knows that emergency communications aren’t limited to dispatch centers, and the county’s tactical dispatch teams have developed the expertise needed to assist with events in the field.
“[FirstNet] gives our tactical dispatch teams the ability to function in the field, supporting the first responders on long-term, high-profile incidents with the same technical capabilities as they would have if they were sitting in their dispatch center,” he said.
Your experience with TERT and tactical dispatching
What is your emergency communication center’s experience with TERT or tactical dispatching? I want to hear from you. As always, you can reach me directly at John.Hunt@FirstNet.gov.
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 Patient safety has never been more important, and FirstNet is helping first responders and medical providers stay connected and focused on improving patient care.
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 FirstNet Authority in the news: we just marked three years of groundbreaking public-private partnership with AT&T, Ed Parkinson was named the new CEO, and FirstNet Push-to-Talk was released as the nation’s first mission-critical push-to-talk solution.
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 Public safety agencies are using FirstNet to conduct exercises such as counteracting a cyberattack with a deployable or simulating an aircraft accident with mass casualties, and to respond to local, regional, and national emergencies as a rural EMS provider.
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 The FirstNet Authority continues to drive innovation, with support for NIST PSCR’s CHARIoT challenge, which calls on innovators to design augmented reality or develop smart city data streams, and the Tech-to-Protect Challenge, which is announcing up to $2.2 million in prizes to winners on May 1.
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Tech, Innovations, and Hot Topics in 9-1-1
Read what we’ve been hearing from public safety in the field about trends and drivers for 9-1-1 and emergency communications.*
Learn how to properly disinfect your communication devices. In a podcast Ryan Poltermann, Vice Chair of the LMR/LTE Integration and Interoperability Working Group of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, discusses the considerations and resources for disinfecting communication devices. The Environmental Protection Agency, the federal authority that regulates disinfectants, determines the effectiveness of disinfectants for different contaminants. Device manufacturers issue different guidelines for their devices. Ryan has compiled guidelines from the EPA and manufacturers for US and Canadian radio, smartphones, and tablets.
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In Hamilton County, Ohio, FirstNet’s robust and reliable platform is making it possible for tactical dispatch teams responding to high-profile, large scale events to remain as fully functional as if they were operating within the four-walls of their Emergency Communications Center. For Andrew Knapp, Director of the Hamilton County Communications Center, the County’s remote dispatch teams rely on FirstNet’s prioritized and preemptive service to stay connected to essential information during critical incidents and in turn, keep their community out of harm’s way.
Watch the video on YouTube |
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John Hunt is a Senior Public Safety Advisor and the First Responder Network Authority 9-1-1 Subject Matter Expert. Learn more about John or email him with your questions. |
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*FirstNet Authority may provide hyperlinks for third-party, non-governmental websites in order to offer additional context and added value for our users. FirstNet Authority does not endorse any product or service and is not responsible, nor can it guarantee the validity or timeliness of the content on hyperlinks outside of the federal government. In addition, users may wish to review privacy notices on non-government sites since their information collection practices may differ from ours.
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