Earlier this week, Assemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) joined a group of public safety dispatchers from across the state for a press conference to celebrate Assembly Bill 1945 (AB 1945), which would recognize the brave work of public safety dispatchers by classifying them as first responders. Currently, the Federal government describes dispatchers as an "administrative" occupation. This classification does not accurately describe the work of dispatchers who undergo extensive training and whose work can mean the difference between life and death. The idea for this bill was brought to Assemblymember Salas by a local dispatcher from Kings County, Maribel Stinson, who emailed him directly suggesting the potential legislation.

Click here to read more.

 

9-1-1 Goes to Washington (#NENAGTW) brings you and hundreds of your fellow 9-1-1 professionals together with government leaders in our nation's capital to address today's most pressing 9-1-1 and emergency communications issues. #NENAGTW is the only event where you learn about the policy challenges facing 9-1-1 and then take immediate action to address them through dialogue with your elected and appointed officials. Join us in Washington for a dynamic, interactive program where you receive: 

• The inside information you need to shape the 9-1-1 and emergency communications agendas for the Administration and Congress;
• Critical knowledge of federal and state 9-1-1, homeland security, and emergency communications legislation, regulation, and policy initiatives; and
• An opportunity to speak directly with members of Congress, administration officials, and key staff to make your voice heard on behalf of the entire 9-1-1 community.

Click here to register.

Nutrition, Fitness, & Sleep Awareness for 9-1-1
Wednesday, January 29 | 3PM Eastern (live) or On-Demand
FREE for NENA Members | Click here to register!

Working in 9-1-1 is not only stressful, but can significantly impact your health. In theory, improving your overall wellness may seem simple – but it certainly isn’t easy. In this webinar, you will learn: 

• The components of a healthy lifestyle;
• Ways you can improve your nutrition, fitness, and sleep habits; and
• How you can avoid typical pitfalls associated with our profession.

Presenter: Christal Rons | Westminster (CO) Police & Fire 

CEUs: Attend this webinar and receive one-half ENP re-certification point towards the ten-point maximum for NENA courses in the Professional Development CEU/Course Credits section.

Can't attend on the 29th? Register now and you will receive an email after the live presentation with instructions for accessing the on-demand webinar archive.

Webinar Access Info: Dial-in and web-access details provided automatically via email upon registration.

Questions? Contact Amanda Tegtmeyer with the NENA Education team.

• A resume, including previous work experience, references, and contact information
• A letter of support from your employer, if applicable
• Three letters of recommendation, at least one of which should be from a former student
• A ten-minute video of yourself instructing a class and teaching a concept (please use www.wetransfer.com to share your video)

 See documents below for full requirements: 

• Course Instructor Requirements & Selection
• CMCP Instructor Requirements & Selection

 Applications are due by February 7.

01.27.20 | (3-day course) | Center Training Officer Program (CTO) | Garfield, NJ | Register
01.29.20 | (3-day course) | 9-1-1 Center Supervisor Program | Chico, CA | Register 
02.12.20 | 9-1-1 Center Culture: A Strategy for Personal & Organizational Success | Pontiac, MI | Register 
02.17.20 | (5-day course) | Center Manager Certification Program (CMCP) | Webb City, MO |  Register
02.17.20 | (3-day course) | Center Training Officer Program (CTO) | Rolla, MO | Register
02.24.20 | (3-day course) | 9-1-1 Center Supervisor Program | Garfield, NJ | Register 
02.24.20 | 9-1-1 Customer Service: Takes Seconds, Saves Minutes | Gurnee, IL | Des Plaines, IL | Register 
03.04.20 | (3-day course) | 9-1-1 Center Supervisor Program | Wheaton, IL | Register  
03.09.20 | (3-day course) | Center Training Officer Program (CTO) | Clinton Twp., MI | Register 
03.27.20 | 9-1-1 Center Consolidation: A Plan for Success | Hot Springs, AR | Register 

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

The NENA Managing & Monitoring NG9‑1‑1 Information Document provides guidance to 9‑1‑1 authorities at all levels on considerations and best practices for adoption in managing and monitoring NG9‑1‑1. The topics covered are comprehensive and general guidance is given to assist authorities in planning for NG9‑1‑1 as the authority transitions from legacy 9‑1‑1 to a full implementation of NG9‑1‑1.

Members of the Working Group can download the document and submit comments here by selecting "Add a Comment" from the "Edit" icon.

All others can download the document and submit comments here by selecting "Add a Comment" from the "Document Actions" icon.

Please complete all requested data and click "Save," or, if submitting multiple comments, click "Save and Add Another."

If you are providing editorial comments (such as typos, grammatical errors, style/numbering errors, or incorrect references/links to documents), then please document them in one single comment and list the page and line number(s) for each.

All comments are due by 11:59PM Eastern on January 31, 2020. You may contact the NENA Committee Resource Manager with any questions or concerns.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has launched a new webpage for the public and law enforcement to report blocked highway-rail grade crossings.

The new FRA Blocked Crossing webpage requests specific information from users reporting blocked crossings—including date, time, location and duration. The agency expects it will take an average of three minutes for users to complete the report. FRA notes that this should only be done in a manner that is consistent with the safe operation of a vehicle.

FRA will use the information collected to gain a more complete picture of where, when and for how long such obstructions occur at the nation’s approximately 130,000 public grade crossings, and what impacts result from this. FRA will share the information with stakeholders, using it to help facilitate local solutions to blocked crossing issues.

NENA seeks volunteers for a new working group to write a NENA Information Document that will provide guidance to GIS professionals in the transition to NG9-1-1, for applying NENA’s standards and other information documents to their data development activities, and for everyday maintenance of GIS address attributes. 

The intent of this working group is to clarify the use of civic address fields within the NG9-1-1 GIS Data Model to support the transition from E9-1-1 to NG9-1-1. The WG will build upon lessons learned, and suggest best management practices for common challenges faced by GIS professionals transitioning through phases of GIS readiness, from initial creation of GIS data for E9-1-1, to supporting both E9-1-1/ALI-style addresses and NG9-1-1 CLDXF-style civic locations.

Volunteers for this work group should be subject matter experts in:

• Assessing and maintaining MSAG/ALI/GIS records, ensuring their accuracy, and keeping them synchronized (NENA 71-501);
• The NG9-1-1 GIS Data Model (NENA-STA-006) civic location layers and their attributes, especially the differences between legacy fields and fields that support CLDXF; and
• GIS data needed to support civic address lookup by various elements of the i3 Standard for NG9-1-1 (NENA-STA-010), especially current work on i3 v3, and CLDXF v2.

Weekly calls will tentatively be held on Mondays at 3:30PM Eastern.

Click here to join. 

There is currently a strong focus by regulators in North America on combating nuisance calls, including robocalling and illegitimate caller ID spoofing, using caller authentication techniques based on standards developed by ATIS and the IETF. While published standards address mechanisms for caller authentication in general, they do not specifically consider caller authentication in the context of 9-1-1 calls or callback calls. There are new standards development activities underway to address the application of caller ID spoofing mitigation techniques to 9-1-1 and callback calls. It is critical that public safety have input into these standards development activities to ensure that the operational needs of 9‑1‑1 authorities and PSAPs are supported by the standards that ultimately get generated.This working group will address topics including: 

• Identification of use cases associated with legitimate and illegitimate caller ID spoofing;
• Description of the information that should be displayed at the PSAP when verification of caller information passes/fails;
• Specification of the handling/treatment of calls where the caller information is suspected to be spoofed;
• Description of the role of analytics in the display and treatment of suspected spoofed calls;
• Considerations related to caller location spoofing reporting and mitigation; and
• Considerations related to the display of PSAP caller ID on callback calls (and in particular, the ability to allow the PSAP caller ID to remain "private").

Meeting days and times are TBD. Click here to join the working group.

 

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.