Posts From Keri Losavio
FCC Says PSAPs Must Be Able to Receive 9-1-1 Texts
November 23, 2010“It’s time to bring 9-1-1 into the digital age,” Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said on Nov. 23 to public safety officials at the Arlington County Emergency Center in Arlington, Va. Genachowski announced that in December he will launch a proceeding, as recommended in the National Broadband Plan, to get public input on how to transition the current system to broadband-enabled, Next Generation 9-1-1.
Read full article2010 Hot Products
November 3, 2010Gear, gadgets and great ideas could be found in abundance at the 76th Annual APCO Conference & Exposition in Houston in August. This year, a select few APCO experts patrolled the exhibit hall for PSC. Incognito, they hunted for the most innovative solutions available to the public safety communications market. Our reviewers have asked all the tough questions, played with the technology and drawn conclusions, identifying the best of the best released in 2010. Here’s what our reviewers have to say about 20 solutions that could soon be coming to an agency near you.
Read full articleVoIP Phone Provider Cited for Failing to Provide 9-1-1 Services
November 3, 2010Interconnected VoIP providers must make E9-1-1 an included feature of their service, not an option. The FCC clarified its rules in a citation issued to Vantage Communications Oct. 27. According to the citation, Vantage Communications has been failing to provide fully compliant 9-1-1 service, violating 47 C.F.R. §9.5(b).
Read full articlePSAP Consolidation
November 1, 2010“[T]here are clear benefits to consolidation,” states a new report to the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. “The sharing of resources allows for the elimination of duplicate costs, supports coordinated responses, provides greater interoperability, and ultimately leads to more effective and efficient service.”
Read full articleAHA Releases New CPR Guidelines
October 21, 2010Compressions. Airway. Breathing. If you can remember the acronym CAB, you know the priority placed on each element of CPR in the just-released 2010 Guidelines for CPR from the American Heart Association. For adults, the new Guidelines recommend a chest compression rate of at least 100 compressions per minute and a depth of two inches.
Read full articleSenate Committee Hears Public Safety Concerns
September 24, 2010“You have the ability to give rural and urban America the capability to allow public safety to do a better job,” said Jackson County (W.Va.) EMS Director Stephen E. McClure to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee during a hearing on Senate Bill 3756. “[The bill] will allow an unprecedented move to develop a public safety communications network. We will be able to do things we are not able to do in today’s system.”
Read full article9/11 Five Years Later: The Way We Were
September 9, 2010In the September 2006 issue of PSC, Keri Losavio wrote about what happened that day, include the communications challenges that were experienced by responders at the World Trade Center and Pentagon sites.
Read full articleExpectations of Emergency Response for Tweets & Status Updates
August 12, 2010The American Red Cross released the results of an online survey of 1,058 adults asking about their use of social media sites in emergency situations. It turns out that many Web users would turn to social media (e.g., Facebook or Twitter) to get help—and they expect emergency personnel to respond.
Read full articleMarion County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office Launches Text Messaging Service
August 12, 2010The Marion County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office has launched a text messaging service that will enable citizens to text the agency for help in an emergency by texting 352/351-9111. The system, which was developed in-house, enables urgent text messages to be received and handled by a system that is separate from the agency’s 9-1-1 system.
Read full article9-1-1 Telecommunicators Can Be Sued for Mistakes in New Jersey
August 11, 2010According to a new decision from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division (Massachi v. City of Newark Police Department), 9-1-1 comm centers and their employees are not immune to lawsuits.
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