Industry
9-1-1 Dispatcher Found Dead
November 8, 2010Decatur, Ala. — A woman who helped thousands of people by taking domestic violence calls as a 9-1-1 dispatcher was a victim of domestic violence herself early Friday morning, according to authorities.
Read full article9-1-1 Dispatcher Faulted in Oakdale, Calif., Fire Mixup
November 2, 2010Oakdale, Calif. — Because a 9-1-1 dispatcher sent a call to the wrong fire department, the firefighter response to a house fire was delayed by several minutes, officials confirmed Monday.
Read full article‘They Didn’t Give Me My Sweet-and-Sour Sauce’ and Other Odd Calls
November 1, 2010Oklahoma City — Nearly 1 million 9-1-1 calls are made every year to the Oklahoma City Emergency Communications Center, and many fall well below what most people would consider an emergency. Calltaker Brenda Grayson said people will phone because their kids won’t get up and go to school, their boyfriends won’t come inside the house when told, or their husbands change the channel on the television and won’t change it back.
Read full article9-1-1 Call Response Questioned in Death
November 1, 2010Odessa, Fla. — At 89, Ken Ervin would never have called 9-1-1 unless he absolutely needed help, his family said. … On the night of Oct. 10 when Ervin began having severe abdominal pains and his wife called for help, it never came, relatives and neighbors said.
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 article9-1-1 Operator Dies When Car Rolls Over on I-91
October 30, 2010New Haven, Conn. — A city 9-1-1 operator was killed in a one-vehicle accident on Interstate 91 Friday evening. The crash happened about 7 p.m. in the southbound lanes between exits 7 and 6, authorities said. A city official confirmed the victim, whom police did not identify, is a civilian employee in the Police and Fire departments’ dispatch center.
Read full articleOfficials Examine Suspicious Packages in US, UK
October 29, 2010WASHINGTON – Authorities on three continents were investigating on Friday whether suspicious packages shipped from Yemen to the United States aboard cargo planes could be part of a terrorist plot.
Read full article50-Minute 9-1-1 Call
October 26, 2010Fort Walton Beach, Fla. — A woman called 9-1-1 when her husband of two years pulled out a gun after they had an argument. Brian Demonds Richardson, 27, never pointed the gun at his wife, but she said she feared for her life during the Sept. 26 incident.
Read full articleOpposition to Call-Center Merger Grows
October 25, 2010Monmouth, Maine — Selectmen have added their voice to the growing chorus of complaints spawned by a state plan to consolidate emergency call centers. On Wednesday, they signed a letter to the Public Utilities Commission airing a laundry list of complaints against Central Maine Regional Communications Center in Augusta and opposing any plan requiring the town to resume a relationship with the center.
Read full articleFire Chief Calls Radio System a ‘Flintstone-Age Arrangement’
October 24, 2010Lancaster, Pa. — When a gas leak forced Millersville University to evacuate five buildings early last month, borough police officers and firefighters responded quickly. But because they use different frequencies, emergency workers could not talk to each other. That’s why Millersville Fire Chief Keith Eshleman held a fire radio next to one ear and a police radio next to the other during the incident.
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