Industry
Hamilton Township Will Rely on Columbus for Fire-Dispatch Calls
April 27, 2011Hamilton, Ohio — Hamilton Township will hand over fire dispatching to the Columbus Division of Fire in an effort to minimize the pinch of a proposed state budget. Beginning in June, fire dispatchers in Columbus will field the township fire department’s emergency calls, charging $5 every time they send township fire units to an emergency that’s outside Columbus.
Read full articleIs $27M for Radios Necessary?
April 27, 2011St. Augustine, Fla. — St. Johns County plans to spend $27 million to upgrade its radio system, a move it has said is prompted by a Federal Communications Commission order with a 2013 deadline. However, there is no order requiring the county to go to a brand new system, which county officials now acknowledge.
Read full articleFirst-Ever National EAS Test Could Flood PSAPs
April 27, 20119-1-1 centers could experience a strong burst of calls when the first-ever national test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) is conducted later this year. During the national EAS test, no matter where citizens tune, they will hear the same EAS tones and message. Public overreaction is a distinct possibility.
Read full articleIf We Want It, We Have to Fight for It
April 27, 2011Public safety officials from rural, suburban and urban communities working in law enforcement, the fire service and emergency health care have joined forces to convince the House, the Senate, the FCC and the Obama administration that the rightful owner of the D-Block spectrum should be public safety.
Read full articleDozing Murray County 9-1-1 Dispatchers Lose Jobs
April 27, 2011Chatsworth, Ga. — When two calls from a medic unit went unanswered at Murray County’s 911 dispatch office, a video showed the dispatcher with her bare feet propped on her desk, her eyes closed and her head tilted to one side, according to county records.
Read full articleFCC Announces Meeting of the Emergency Response Interoperability Center Public Safety Advisory Committee Scheduled for May 24
April 22, 2011The Federal Communications Commission, consistent with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, announces that the FCC’s Emergency Response Interoperability Center Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) will hold its second meeting on Tuesday, May 24 at 10:00 a.m. The PSAC is a Federal Advisory Committee that will provide recommendations to assist the Commission and the Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC) in developing a technical interoperability framework for a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network
Read full articleCPRA 2011 Dispatcher Awards
April 21, 2011On April 14, the Southern California Chapter of APCO (CPRA) hosted its 23rd annual Telecommunicator Awards banquet at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello, Calif. There were more that 250 award winners, family, friends and co-workers in attendance to celebrate and to help honor their peers.
Read full articleDispatchers Have Their Say at Adams Town Meeting
April 21, 2011Adams, Ma. — A pair of Adams Police dispatchers are speaking out before voters at Town Meeting whether to keep the town’s emergency services dispatch center or farm it out to a countywide agency to save money.
Read full articleCharleston 9-1-1 Center Aids FCC Probe in Maryland
April 21, 2011Kanawha County, W.Va. — Kanawha County 911 Center officials are cooperating with a Federal Communications Commission investigation of 911 outages in Maryland. FCC engineers interviewed Kanawha County 911 Director Carolyn Charnock last week, after reading reports about a similar 911 emergency failure in Charleston during an April 5 storm.
Read full articleUniversity of Tampa Honor Student Named Fire Dispatcher of the Year
April 21, 2011Temple Terrace, Fla. — Stacey Auguste, a four-year veteran of the Temple Terrace communications center, was named 2010 Fire Dispatcher of the Year on April 12 by Fire Chief Keith Chapman.
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