NENA Outlines Lessons Learned from Derecho Power Outages in Congressional Testimony
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Extended outages of 9-1-1 emergency services after the recent "derecho" storm in the National Capital Region revealed serious vulnerabilities in those systems. But an active, dedicated response from telecommunications carriers and local government agencies can help prevent such outages and improve emergency services in the future.
That was the message delivered to Congress today on behalf of America’s 9-1-1 call centers by Trey Forgety, Director of Governmental Affairs for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), in testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Preparedness, Response, and Communications.
The unusually intense thunderstorm on June 29 inflicted damage from Chicago to the DC metro area. Millions of people were left without 9-1-1 service for several days due to power outages and generator failures at various service facilities, compounded by a lack of data about what was happening.
"Providing emergency service is perhaps the core function of the government, and 9-1-1 is the critical link between the public and emergency responders," Forgety testified. "When the safety of the public is at stake, we must put aside the temptation to assign blame, and focus instead on learning how we can prevent future failures."
Click here to continue reading this news item and to review the full NENA testimony.
   
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