These webinars are free to APCO members and worth one CDE. If you can't attend the live sessions, register anyway to gain access to the recorded webinars.

Using Technology to Address First Responder Health and Wellness Needs
April 28 | 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. ET
The speakers will provide examples of emergency communications professionals in distress and discuss two applications available in the FirstNet Catalog to help address some of these common risk factors.
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Sponsored by FirstNet Built with AT&T

Securing Next Generation 9-1-1 Infrastructure
May 19 | 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. ET
This webinar explores ways to apply a cybersecurity framework to the Next Generation 9-1-1 world.
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Sponsored by Comtech Safety & Security Technologies

While our NPSTW contest highlighted more than a hundred of you, there is no doubt that, especially over the past year, every public safety telecommunicator has been worthy of a superhero cape. During NPSTW and throughout the year, we thank and honor you for your service as the first of the first responders.

While we’d like to reward all of the 104 entries in our “Who’s Your Superhero?” contest, only two entries could win $100 for their comm center by getting the most likes.  Congratulations to our winners:

• Freya Arocha of the Miami-Dade Police Department (36 or more employees)
• Karen Stepp of McDowell 911 Center (1-35 employees)

And while there are no additional prizes, a few other entries deserve mention:

• Most entries from one agency: San Antonio Police Department, with 13 (we’ll see YOU in August.)
• Most entries for one person: Ian Guerrino, Monmouth County Communications, with 5

In closing, we salute you with this video sent by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office encouraging everyone to hang in there during tough times.

APCO needs your support. A major infrastructure proposal – the LIFT America Act – has been introduced in Congress that includes $15 billion to support the deployment of Next Generation 9-1-1 throughout the country. The NG9-1-1 provisions adhere to principles established by APCO and its partners in the Public Safety Next Generation 9-1-1 Coalition, a broad group of national public safety organizations representing law enforcement, fire, EMS and 9-1-1. We ask that you send a letter of support by clicking on the take action link and please share this widely with colleagues.

For more information, read a recent APCO press release and check out this recorded webinar.

This week, co-chairs of the Congressional Fire Services and Law Enforcement Caucuses wrote to leadership in the House of Representatives to express “strong support” for the Next Generation 9-1-1 proposal that was introduced last month. In their letter, the Co-Chairs explain that the legislation will provide critical updates, enable interoperability and save lives. This statement of bipartisan support from lawmakers committed to advancing public safety issues is an important development in the effort to ensure NG9-1-1 funding is included in any infrastructure package. APCO continues to collaborate with the Public Safety Next Generation 9-1-1 Coalition to build support for the proposed legislation.

The two-day course (May 20-21) provides the skills and training telecommunicators need to work as part of an agency’s tactical dispatch team that responds to incidents requiring coordination of multiple agencies/jurisdictions.
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• Fundamentals of Tactical Dispatch | May 5-25
• Bullying and Negativity in the Communications Center, 2nd Ed. | May 12 - June 1
• Public Safety Communications Staffing and Employee Retention | May 12 - June 1
• Emergency Medical Dispatch, 5th Ed., Version 4 | May 12 - June 22

Thursday, April 29 | 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. ET

Join the webinar for a discussion on 2021 Next Generation 9-1-1 legislation. Featured speakers include:

• Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel, Philadelphia Fire Dept.
• Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, Story County, Iowa
• Kevin McGinnis, National Association of State EMS Officials
• Captain Mel Maier, Oakland County (MI) Sheriff’s Office

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FirstNet will host a virtual event on Monday, April 26 at 3:00 - 4:15 p.m. ET featuring a chat between Ed Parkinson, CEO of the FirstNet Authority, and Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), ranking member of the U.S. House E&C Communications & Technology Subcommittee. In addition, public safety leaders from across the country will participate in a panel discussion on how FirstNet supported their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergencies during this unprecedented year.
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The following agencies received Agency Training Program Certification, a Project 33^® Initiative. Public safety agencies use the APCO International Agency Training Program Certification as a formal mechanism to ensure their training programs meet APCO American National Standards (ANS). 

Idaho State Police

Plano Public Safety Communications Training Academy

Access real-time analytics with faster data analysis for actionable decisions with APCO IntelliComm^®, a guidecard software supported by IBM Watson Analytics. Data-driven models allow for earlier responses to community-wide trends impacting the ECC. Schedule a no-obligation demo.

On April 22, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to modify rules for how and when service providers must notify ECCs of network disruptions that impact 9-1-1 service. APCO worked closely with FCC leadership to enhance the proposal, including adding provisions to explore whether the current outage thresholds should be lowered so that notifications are required for smaller, yet potentially significant outages. To inform APCO’s comments to the FCC, please share your own experiences with outage notifications (or a lack thereof) by emailing gro@apcointl.org.