America’s 9-1-1 professionals are among the first responders and local heroes being celebrated this week as the convenience and fuel retailing industry unites in the second annual 24/7 Day event on Friday, July 24.  

On Friday, at more than 15,000 convenience store locations operated by Shell, ExtraMile, Kwik Chek, Loop Neighborhood Market, Rapid Refill, Garrett’s Family Market, Yesway, and Allsup’s, uniformed or badged 9-1-1 professionals are among those who will be able to get a free coffee, fountain drink, or snack (local details vary) as a way of saying "thank you" for their invaluable, courageous public service.

NENA is partnering with the NACS Foundation and American Red Cross in the annual national event, which recognizes first responders, medical personnel, and American Red Cross volunteers who work around the clock, 24/7, serving our communities to ensure people don’t face emergencies alone.

NENA members are encouraged to visit one of these stores on Friday, take photos of themselves enjoying their free benefit, and post them to Facebook or Twitter with the hashtags #247Day, #ThankYou911, and #WeHeartHeroes.

Click here to find a list of participating stores and locations. 

The National Police Foundation, with support from The Starbucks Foundation and The Motorola Solutions Foundation, is pleased to announce the National First Responder COVID-19 Grant Relief Program. This program will allow first responders and survivors of first responders in underserved communities an opportunity to request a grant to reimburse select COVID-19 related expenses, such as mental health and wellness costs, (i.e. counseling services, suicide prevention), unanticipated dependent care, disinfecting services, and similar costs. These micro-grants may be awarded in an amount up to $1,000.  

Applications will be reviewed by the National Police Foundation, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), NENA, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), and the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE). The National Police Foundation will be distributing the grants directly to the recipient.

First responders or family members interested in applying for a grant can review eligibility and apply here.

NENA's Women in 9-1-1 (WIN) Alliance empowers women in 9-1-1 through leadership development, education, networking, and mentoring opportunities. NENA members can join the WIN Community Group to network with other 9-1-1 professionals and stay informed about WIN's upcoming activities. To join the group, sign in to your NENA member account and then head over to the WIN group page (don't forget to click "Join Group" at the upper right-hand corner). Once you do, post a message or comment and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a one-of-a-kind 911derwoman t-shirt.

Also, a new WIN mentor program is now available! If you would like to become a mentor or mentee, click here for instructions on how to sign up and participate. Serving as a mentor or becoming a mentee can help you direct your future, expand your professional network, gain knowledge and perspective on the workplace, and deliver tremendous personal satisfaction.

NENA: The 9-1-1 Association, together with our partner EENA: European Emergency Number Association, are pleased to invite interested organizations to save the date for the first intercontinental interoperability testing event for NG9-1-1 and NG112 next-generation emergency calling.

This collaborative intercontinental interoperability testing event will be planned, supported, and conducted through the coordination of NENA's ninth Industry Collaboration Event (ICE 9) with EENA’s fourth NG112 PlugTest, with the invaluable support of our technology hosts. In the United States, ICE 9 will be hosted at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Rice Satellite Campus in Wheaton, Illinois. In Europe, NG112 PlugTest 4 will be hosted by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), at their facilities in Sophia-Antipolis, France. This event will be volunteer driven, with charter, objectives, test scenarios and findings developed and documented jointly by the NENA ICE 9 Planning Committee and ETSI and EENA’s PlugTest 4 Planning Committee.

Click here to learn more. 

NENA recently announced that it has cancelled its in-person 2020 Annual Conference & Expo and is replacing it with an online event due to public-health and safety concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The face-to-face event was originally scheduled to be held in June in Long Beach, California, before being postponed to September. However, given the still-uncertain trajectory of the pandemic, and considering that conference participants would be coming from all over the country and around the world, NENA concluded that cancelling the in-person meeting was the only safe and responsible action.

NENA is working with speakers, sponsors, and industry partners to deliver a virtual event from September 22-24. More details will be announced soon.

As NENA continues to closely monitor the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, we have developed a list of resources for members, chapters, and the greater 9-1-1 community.

NENA's COVID-19 resource page contains items including PSAP-guidance documents, EMD protocols, on-demand webinars, CoOPs and planning checklists, event-planner assistance, public education graphics, health and hygiene best practices, and many more resources to support you and your work during this ever-evolving situation. This page is updated with new information as it becomes available. 

Do you have or know of other resources that should be posted? If so, you can contact NENA Communications Director Chris Nussman.

Growing Up 9-1-1: A Teenager’s Perspective on Living in a 9-1-1 Family
Wednesday, July 29 | 3PM Eastern (live) or On-Demand
FREE for NENA Members
Click here to register!

Being a kid or a parent in a public-safety household isn’t easy. You have to navigate the tough calls, exhausting schedules, and many difficult conversations. Attend this special NENA #WebinarWednesday to hear from Chloe, a 16-year old who has grown up in the 9-1-1 world, alongside her mother, Christine, a two-decade 9-1-1 veteran, as they share how they’ve created a strong, healthy 9-1-1 family. Whether you’re a parent or not, attend this webinar to explore:

• Tools and techniques that assist in time management, job stress, family priorities, intentional parenting, and more; 
• What the kids of 9-1-1 really need from parents (and it’s not perfection); and
• Ways that all of us – with kids or without – can support our fellow 9-1-1 teammates and improve our work- and home-relationships.

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.

Presenters: Christine Bannister, ENP – Waukesha County (WI) Communications | Chloe – Teenager 

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. 

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

Questions? Contact Amanda Tegtmeyer with the NENA Education team.

Therapy Animals: Helping 9-1-1 One Paw at a Time
Wednesday, August 26 | | 3PM Eastern (live) or On-Demand
FREE for NENA Members | Click here to register!

This webinar provides a replicable case study that shows how you can implement an employee-decompression plan, which includes therapy-dog visits as a part of a healthy PSAP environment. Attend to learn about: 

• The positive impact the program had;
• Issues encountered and lessons learned during the program’s roll out; and
• The benefits of having a "center pet" and how that is managed in some centers across the country.

Can't attend on the 26th? Register now and you will receive an email after the live presentation with instructions for accessing the on-demand webinar archive.

Presenter: Sofia Clingenpeel, ENP – Albuquerque (NM) Police Department

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.

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

Questions? Contact Amanda Tegtmeyer with the NENA Education team.

Evolving Technology for PSAPs' Changing Needs
Sponsored by Motorola Solutions
Thursday, September 10 | 1PM Eastern (live) or On-Demand
FREE! Click here to register!

COVID-19 and social unrest have resulted in changes to timelines and plans for implementing cloud technology. If this is true for your PSAP, you are not alone. Many PSAPs are considering a move to the cloud sooner than anticipated. The events experienced this year are broad and impactful as we consider the best means to protect our communities in uncertain times. Join us on September 10th as your colleagues share with us how they are implementing new cloud technologies, what benefits they’re experiencing, and what feedback they’re hearing from call takers and dispatchers. 

Can't attend on the 10th? Register now and you will have access to the on-demand webinar archive via the registration landing page.

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

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

The views expressed during this webinar are those of the sponsor and not necessarily those of NENA. NENA does not endorse any proprietary product or solution. Contact Sean Sullivan for more information on how your company can participate in NENA’s sponsored webinar program.

Pursuant to NENA's Bylaws, notice is hereby given that the membership of the National Emergency Number Association will hold a virtual annual meeting via Zoom on Tuesday, September 15 at 3PM Eastern. The membership is advised of the following agenda:

I. Announcement of next annual conference site and dates
II. Reports of activities and financial condition of the association
III. Members’ questions

Registration information is forthcoming.

In the evolving environment of Next Generation 9-1-1, the data received will change and come from different sources. This document seeks to inform on E9-1-1 and NG9-1-1 data flow issues and identify at least a few transition issues for additional consideration.

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

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

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

If submitting a substantial number of substantive comments and/or edits, commenters may add a single comment in NWS Comment Manager and attach an edited version of the document containing tracked changes. To do this, scroll down to "Add Supporting File" on the comment page and select the file you have edited.

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

• Page 22, Line 761: correct muse to most
• Page 51, Line 905: correct Maine to main
• If the correction is within a table, provide the table name and page number of error and specific details of change

All comments are due by August 7. You may contact the NENA Committee Resource Manager with any questions or concerns.

NENA applauds the FCC’s work to implement 9-8-8 as the nationwide short code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. For more than 50 years, the nation has benefited enormously from universal, simple access to emergency response; suicide-related calls should be no different. We believe a dedicated, easy-to-remember method for reaching the suicide prevention lifeline will lead to more robust, specialized help for callers, and will ultimately save countless lives.

NENA seeks volunteers for a new working group to write a NENA Information Document that will provide guidance and recommended best practices to the PSAPs for the use of supplemental location and caller information as identified in the Recommended Best Practices for Supplemental 9-1-1 Location Data document created by NENA staff, NASNA, and iCERT. In addition to supplemental location data, this document will include emergency contact information, medical data, telematics information, and other data types available from IoT devices. This work will include:

 

• Identification of supplemental location and caller data sources (embedded in call handling/dispatch clients, third party applications, web-based client, etc.);
• Development of best practices for delivering, accessing and utilizing this data;
• Evaluation of the data’s value and benefit to the PSAP and public safety ecosystem operations (ex. Call-taker, dispatcher, field responder); and,
• Development of recommendations for the delivery and operational use of Z-access data. 

 

Volunteers for this work group should have subject matter experience as:

 

• PSAP operations staff (e.g. calltakers, dispatchers, trainers, managers, etc.);
• GIS professionals; 
• Supplemental location / data providers; and
• Operations / 9-1-1 call-handling equipment vendors.

 

Meetings will be held on a bi-weekly basis on a day/time to be determined by members of the WG. Click here to join this WG.

The Vetting Mental-Health-Provider Resources for Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) working group will produce an information document that will inform agencies when developing or refining their EAPs. The document will define EAP, identify different types of EAPs with the advantages and shortcomings of each EAP type, and identify specific criteria for professional mental health and wellness consultants, clinicians, counselors, and therapists to be included as agencies’ EAP providers.

Any and all 9-1-1 professionals, mental health and wellness professionals, and persons with agency human-resource experience and/or with EAPs are invited to sign up here.

Vice President of Product and Technology | Synergem Technologies Inc. | North Carolina
Training and Quality Assurance Program Manager (PSCC) | Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority | Arlington, VA
Sr. Program Manager | Inteliquent | Boulder, CO
Director of Public Safety Communications | County of Dane | Madison, WI