NENA Releases Seven New Documents

Next Generation 9‑1‑1 can put the telecommunicator virtually "at the scene" experiencing the incident directly through data received from audio, video, both recorded and real-time, text, and graphic photos of the incident. The very nature of the job of a 9‑1‑1 telecommunicator will change as they interact with new and different forms of information and the need for increased situational awareness as part of their "first on scene and initial incident command" responsibilities. The NENA Changing Role of the Telecommunicator in NG9‑1‑1 Standard gives Authorities Having Jurisdiction an understanding of how NG9‑1‑1 will change the role of the Telecommunicator and guidance to assist with educating stakeholders and decision makers on the changing role of the Telecommunicator.

The NENA Standard to Protect the Wellbeing of 9‑1‑1 Professionals defines the potential impacts of 9‑1‑1 work on the wellbeing of the emergency telecommunicator and directs PSAP leaders to build Comprehensive Stress Resilience Plans empowering their personnel for wellness by preventing, managing, and healing from these impacts, using resource documents provided in the appendices and available from the NENA Wellness Continuum.

The NENA Telecommunicator Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (T-CPR) Standard provides requirements for PSAP operations to ensure 9‑1‑1 telecommunicators provide consistent, effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instructions when a 9‑1‑1 caller is reporting a possible cardiac arrest. Telecommunicators, as first responders and public safety personnel, must be trained and empowered to provide T-CPR, ensuring that the initial links of the Chain of Survival are as strong as they can be. The single most important strategy to improve bystander CPR frequency and quality, and thereby survival from OHCA, is for ECCs to embrace T-CPR as the standard of care. The information in this standard will provide ECC and pre-hospital system leaders with a roadmap to building a sustainable T-CPR program that addresses the resuscitation knowledge, skills, and abilities of telecommunicators. This document also contains minimum T-CPR performance standards ECCs should strive to meet to improve survival rates from OHCA.

Legacy Selective Router Gateways (LSRGs) will provide the needed functionality to wireline and wireless callers and PSAPs that are served by legacy Selective Routers (SRs) to facilitate emergency call handling during the transition to NG9‑1‑1. The NENA Legacy Selective Router Gateway (LSRG) Standard provides a complete technical standard for the LSRG with examples illustrating its role in the processing of emergency call originations and transfers. Since the LSRG sits between a standards-compliant SR/ALI and standards-compliant ESInet/ESRP/ECRF/LVF/LIS, this standard, together with other standards noted, provide a complete standards-based transition to NG9‑1‑1 per the NENA NG9‑1‑1 Transition Plan described in NENA-INF-008.1.

The NENA PSAP Master Clock Standard is a guide for designers and manufacturers of PSAP equipment for use in an E9‑1‑1 environment. These specifications are not for use for NG9‑1‑1 time synchronization; those specifications can be found in the Timer Server section of NENA‑STA‑010. This Standard identifies engineering and technical requirements to be met before the purchase of such equipment; it may also be of value to purchasers, maintainers and users of such equipment. This document is not intended to provide complete design specifications for a PSAP Master Clock. It will neither ensure the quality of the performance of the equipment nor should it serve as an exclusive procurement specification.

The NENA Suicide/Crisis Line Interoperability Standard facilitates working collaboratively with crisis lines to help ensure that persons at imminent risk of suicide receive the emergency assistance they need and provides information about crisis line processes. It also establishes guidelines for both PSAPs and crisis lines to work together effectively when emergency intervention is needed to keep an individual safe from imminent suicide. Establishing and disseminating knowledge of this standard along with the creation of collaborative relationships between crisis lines and PSAPs can serve to improve the standard of care for individuals in emotional or suicidal distress. Greater awareness and collaborative relationships between crisis lines and their local PSAP allows for improved continuity of care for at-risk individuals. When circumstances arise where all other options to keep a person at imminent risk of suicide safe from harm have been exhausted, or an attempt is already in progress, crisis centers must rely on working with PSAP staff to help get emergency intervention (active rescue) to the person at imminent risk. This document provides guidance on how PSAPs and crisis lines can best work together in these circumstances to assure the safety of the individual.

9‑1‑1 is vulnerable to security issues, including call flood-based attacks such Telephony Denial of Service (TDoS), which saturate the network and prevent individuals from receiving timely service. 9‑1‑1 is vulnerable to TDoS, as a function being well known, having limited resources (especially call takers), older technology (in E9‑1‑1), and the need to answer every call. The NENA Telephony Denial of Service (TDoS) Information Document describes Telephony Denial of Service (TDoS) in 9‑1‑1 networks, including methods for detection and mitigation.