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The 9-1-1 Take: Summer 2022
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The 9-1-1 Take with John Hunt
Transforming the future of emergency communications
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If you attended this year’s conference for the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) from August 7-10 in Anaheim, California, I hope you were able to check out our sessions on FirstNet. For the third year, APCO has dedicated an entire track of the conference to FirstNet. The FirstNet track had 12 sessions with diverse speakers who are experts on or users of FirstNet, and the theme was “transforming the future of emergency communications.” Here are some highlights from those sessions.
FirstNet and the ECC
I hosted a session called “Plugging It in: Where FirstNet Fits in the ECC” together with Doug Campbell from the City of Alexandria Department of Emergency and Customer Communications in Virginia and Stephen Devine from AT&T’s FirstNet program. We introduced the fundamentals of how FirstNet is being used in an emergency communications center.
Alexandria has been a pioneer in using FirstNet for advanced 9-1-1 operations. During the session we discussed how FirstNet goes beyond giving staff a smartphone. FirstNet can also support remote operations, including call processing, dispatching, and supervision. Some emergency communication centers are also using FirstNet to integrate LMR-to-LTE communications to connect traditional radios and broadband devices like smartphones.
Mission critical communications
Another highlight session was “The Integrated Dispatcher: Effective Incorporation of Mission Critical Services into Daily Operations.” My FirstNet Authority colleague Jen Harder led this session with FirstNet users Peter Rogers, Statewide Interoperability Coordinator for Tennessee, and Joe Duvall, Chief of the Dallas Police Department in Georgia.
The Dallas Police Department is one of the first in the nation to use FirstNet as their primary communications platform, dispatching 20,000 calls a year. A one-size-fits-all solution doesn’t exist for public safety communications, and this session covered different approaches to enhancing mission critical communications, depending on the agency’s needs.
Planning for events with FirstNet
Planned events happen every day in every community across the country. FirstNet can support these events no matter the size. The FirstNet Authority’s Doug Harder led a session called “Planning to Use FirstNet: From County Fairs to the Super Bowl.” FirstNet users shared how they planned successful events using public safety broadband. We heard from Nicole Diedrick from the Phoenix Regional Dispatch Center in Arizona and Tim Dorsey from the Lake Ozark Fire Protection District in Missouri.
The Lake of the Ozarks hosts one of the most popular powerboat racing events in the nation, requiring input from many different public safety agencies. Wireless tools and technologies can help address the challenges of these types of events. The Lake of the Ozarks previously devised a plan for reliable, interoperable event communications that involved a FirstNet deployable to boost connectivity and push-to-talk capabilities for real-time communications.
Wellness in the ECC
The challenges of today's emergency communications center are many: recruitment, retention, effectiveness, efficiency, morale, wellness ... the list goes on. Jen Harder convened a discussion about how advanced technology combined with old-fashioned humanity can address some of these challenges. The session focused on ways to holistically improve how telecommunicators experience and enjoy their careers, how they can support their first responders in the field, and how they can develop resilience to better serve the public.
Let’s talk
Did you miss any of the sessions in the FirstNet track? Learn how to access APCO session recordings to hear how FirstNet benefits 9-1-1 and emergency communication centers.
I’d love to hear your feedback. Send me an email or find me or one of my FirstNet Authority colleagues at these events:
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We launched the Public Safety Immersive Test Center with the National Institute for Standards and Technology. This facility allows first responders and researchers to get hands-on experience with cutting-edge tech in a virtual environment.
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Welcome to FirstNet, Los Angeles Police Department! The LAPD, one of the largest police departments in the country, is modernizing its communications with FirstNet. Nearly 10,000 officers will get FirstNet devices, giving them more time in the field and less time at the station doing paperwork.
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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.*
A research project called Transform911 from the University of Chicago aims to modernize and strengthen the nation’s 9-1-1 system. The project lays out a seven-point plan for improvements that includes a call for consistent standards in 9-1-1 technology and more robust support for the 9-1-1 workforce.
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One thing the 9-1-1 community learned from the pandemic was the need to plan for alternate ways to work. Rather than be tied to workstations at fixed locations, 9-1-1 telecommunicators need flexibility to remotely take, dispatch, and supervise calls. In December 2021, Maryland telecommunicators put FirstNet to the test, demonstrating the network’s connectivity and reliability during remote operations.
Watch the video |
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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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Top photo: FirstNet Authority staff pose with the APCO sign at the 2021 APCO conference where they facilitated multiple sessions about FirstNet.
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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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