Alexandria, Va. – The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International released Public Safety Communications Common Incident Type Codes for Data Exchange, APCO American National Standard (ANS) 2.103.1-2012, after receiving final approval from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) earlier this month.

This APCO ANS focuses on providing a standardized list of Common Incident Type Codes to facilitate effective incident exchange between Next-Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) PSAPs and other authorized agencies, which is a critical component of public safety interoperability. If an agency is receiving information about an incident, a basic level of incident classification will be required to assure they understand the type of situation.

“A standardized list of Common Incident Type Codes is a significant step forward in facilitating effective data exchange between PSAPs who wish to share incident information. As NG9-1-1 systems deploy, data interoperability will become increasingly important,” said APCO President Terry Hall.

The creation of this standardized incident type code list does not mean that the agency is required to change the codes they use internally. The intent is to have each agency map their internal codes to the standardized list.

This standard, along with other APCO American National Standards may be downloaded at www.apcostandards.org. For questions regarding APCO Standards, please e-mail standards@apcointl.org.

About APCO International

APCO International is the world’s largest organization of public safety communications professionals. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole – by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach.