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NENA Announces 2020 Standards & Best Practices Conference & Wellness Critical Issues Forum

Learn, Collaborate, & Contribute at the NENA NG9-1-1 Standards & Best Practices Conference!
#NENASBP is a conference unlike any other. It is an interactive, informative, attendee-driven event where you not only learn about the standards that are spurring the development and implementation of NG9-1-1 technology and operations best practices, but also create the guidelines, resources, and documents that enable NG services, systems, and PSAPs to reach their full potential.

With your peers from across the 9-1-1 universe, you’ll discuss and work to address the most pressing NG-related issues, including: GIS and NG-data needs; location services and accuracy; interoperability; telecommunicator SOPs; procurement and transition planning; security and resiliency; social media; apps and the Internet of Things; multimedia messaging and accessibility; disaster planning; staffing, hiring, and training; and the evolution of 9-1-1 center supervision and management.

No other event provides you with the opportunity to shape the future of 9-1-1 and impact public safety for decades to come! Don’t miss your chance to be part of it!

Learn more and register.

Stress, Wellness, & Resiliency: A NENA Critical Issues Forum
Stress, PTSD, vicarious and cumulative trauma, burnout, and a variety of other mental and physical ailments plague the 9-1-1 community. We’ve only begun to acknowledge – and fight against – the negative impact of this profession on our lives; we’ve just scratched the surface when it comes to implementing programs to meet the self- and team-care needs of our peers and coworkers. Studies show that increasing overall wellness leads to greater personal and professional satisfaction, less turnover, decreased sick leave, and higher performance... but how do we get there?

Join us on January 23-24 in Austin, TX for this first-of-its-kind event to learn about the mental-, physical-, and organizational-health processes and programs you can use to enable the much-needed change in our community’s mindset, skillset, and culture as it relates to mental health and hygiene. During this interactive day-and-a-half program, you’ll gain the tools and resources you need to keep your team healthy and performing at their best. Topics include:

Managing and fighting stress and its effects
Recognizing, preventing, and mitigating burnout
Identifying the root causes of poor performance (and correcting them)
Combatting PTSD
Decreasing stress-related turnover
Developing and deploying peer-support programs
Utilizing positive-psychology leadership techniques
Creating a "culture of wellness"
Helping at-risk and struggling employees
Preventing suicide
Using NENA’s stress standard and critical-incident diffusing tool

Learn more and register.

NENA Launches New Program to Spur & Recognize Dispatch-Skills Development

Yesterday, NENA unveiled a program that encourages 9-1-1 telecommunicators to enhance their knowledge and skills, and recognizes those who do.

NENA’s new Excellence in Dispatch Certificate takes telecommunicators beyond their initial entry-level training to become star performers in their 9-1-1 centers and better assist the public who rely on 9-1-1’s life-saving services.

"As a member-driven and member-focused association, NENA is always looking for innovative ways to help our members accomplish their daily mission," said NENA President Monica Million. "This certificate program empowers telecommunicators – both new and experienced – to grow, succeed, and save lives."

The Excellence in Dispatch Certificate recognizes those who complete at least three of the following five telecommunicator-focused NENA courses within two years:

Advanced Fire & EMS Dispatching;
Advanced Police Dispatching;
Enhanced Caller Management;
9-1-1 Customer Service: Takes Seconds, Saves Minutes; and
Preventing Telecommunicator Tunnel Vision.

"Earning the Excellence in Dispatch Certificate not only helps dispatchers excel under the headset, but also empowers them to be team leaders and opens the door for long-term success in the profession," said NENA Education Director Ty Wooten. "We’re really excited to launch this program that provides telecommunicators with so many valuable, practical tools and resources that they can use immediately, as well as throughout their careers."

Learn more about the Excellence in Dispatch Certificate program here.

Training Update

Upcoming Courses

Check out the NENA Education Calendar to see additional upcoming classes!

Association Business

NENA 2020-21 Board of Directors Nominations Window Closes September 25

NENA is pleased to open the nominations process for our 2020-21 Board of Directors election! This election will be for the following positions:

Second Vice President
Southeastern Region Director
Western Region Director
Private Director

Qualifications
Each Officer or Director of the Association at the time of their nomination and throughout all times during their candidacy and term(s) of service, must:

Maintain membership, in good standing, in the Association;
Maintain certification as an Emergency Number Professional in accordance with the prevailing requirements for that certification;
Discharge, with all due diligence, the duties attendant upon the position they hold;
Comply with all Association policies pertaining to activities of the Association in which they participate;
If serving as a Region Director, reside within the Region represented;
If serving as the Private Sector Director, maintain the status of Private Sector member; and
If serving as an Officer:

Derive no more than 15% of their instantaneous income from for-profit or commercial activity that is connected in any way to the 9-1-1 industry;
Annually, or at the time of any change in employment, sign an affidavit of compliance attesting that they meet this qualification; and
Consent to the release, at any time, of any employment, financial, or tax information that may be requested by the Board of Directors in order to validate compliance with this qualification.

Click here to download a .zip file of documents and resources that includes:

Statement of Responsibilities

Must be signed by nominee and co-signed by an agency representative (if applicable)

Nomination Form

Can be completed by the applying candidate or by a third-party nominator

Relevant NENA polices and procedures
NENA's bylaws

Click here to fill out your board nomination form online. A paper form is available in the .zip file of documents and resources.

The nomination deadline is 5PM Eastern on September 25, 2019. Contact the Elections Committee with any questions about the nomination process, eligibility requirements, or general election details.

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Volunteers Wanted

Participate in Research on Health, Wellness, & Peer Support in the 9-1-1 Industry

Dr. Michelle Lilly of Northern Illinois University has partnered with Jim Marshall of the 9-1-1 Training Institute and Pam Opoka of MARC (Kansas City, MO) to develop a longitudinal project that examines the impact of peer support on employee health and wellness in 9-1-1 agencies. Active duty telecommunicators both with and without formal training in peer support are invited to participate.

This longitudinal study will ask participants to complete an online survey every six months over 24 months. Surveys take less than 15 minutes to complete. If interested, click here.

The link will lead to a page that provides information about the study. Participants are asked to provide their name and a non-work email address so that the study team can email a link to the baseline survey with a unique study ID. A link to the baseline study will arrive within 24 hours from "US911Project@gmail.com" (so check your spam folder if you don’t receive it!).

Enrollment for the project closes on October 15th. Participation is completely voluntary and responses are confidential. Please reach out to Dr. Lilly with any questions about the project.

Volunteers Sought for Two GIS Data Stewardship Working Groups

NENA seeks volunteers for two new working groups that will apply the NENA Information Document for GIS Data Stewardship for NG9-1-1 framework to include information on Emergency Service Boundaries and Road Centerlines. These working groups will add sections to the document that provide guidance to aid the development of complete, accurate, and current GIS datasets to be used within NG9-1-1 systems. This information will assist GIS and PSAP staff in understanding and adopting best practices related to managing specific GIS datasets in support of NG9-1-1 location validation and call routing.

The Emergency Service Boundaries Working Group will provide information specific to the purpose and intended use of Emergency Service Boundaries within NG9-1-1 as well as best management practices for the creation and stewardship of these layers. This Working Group will meet Fridays from 1PM - 3:30PM Eastern beginning Friday, October 18. Click here to join.

The Road Centerlines Working Group will provide information specific to the purpose and intended use of Road Centerlines within NG9-1-1 location validation and call routing as well as best management practices for the creation and stewardship of this layer. This Working Group will meet Mondays from 11:30AM - 1:00PM Eastern beginning Monday, October 7. Click here to join.

Please note if you are an existing member of the GIS Data Stewardship for NG9-1-1 Working Group and are interested in participating in either the Emergency Service Boundary or Road Centerlines working groups, you will need to join them through the links above. They are being treated as new and separate working groups and membership in the original GIS Data Stewardship Working Group does not carry over.

Featured Job Openings

Deputy Director | North Texas Emergency Communications Center | Carrollton, TX

GIS NG911 Manager | State of Maine Public Utilities Commission | Hallowell, ME

Emergency Communications Director | QComm 911, IL | Milan, IL

Public Safety Telecommunicator | City of Casper | Casper, WY

Telecommunicator Corner

Nominate Your Extraordinary Coworker for Our "TC Spotlight" Feature

Did you know that NENA has a great way to recognize telecommunicators who have gone above and beyond? It’s called the TC Spotlight! If you know of a TC that has done an exceptional job while handling a call, is devoted to his or her career, is a mentor to others, a great cheerleader for your agency, or just plain rocks, then we would like to help celebrate them! Share their awesome talents with the rest of the world by sending an email to tccaucus@nena.org and letting us know the nominee's name, years of service, current agency and position, and why he or she is being nominated.