Today, U.S. Representatives Norma J. Torres (CA-35), the only former 9-1-1 dispatcher serving in Congress, and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1), a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent and federal prosecutor, announced that their 9-11 SAVES Act passed the House as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Torres and Fitzpatrick offered the language as an amendment to the NDAA, where it was unanimously agreed to as part of an en bloc amendment.
The 9-1-1 SAVES Act was re-introduced by Rep. Torres and Fitzpatrick in April 2021 – a bipartisan legislation to reclassify 911 dispatchers from “Office and Administrative Support” to “Protective Service Occupations” in the Office of Management and Budget’s Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) catalog. Read more.
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Does your ECC need help keeping up with today's ever-changing emergency communications technologies?
Register for APCO's Emerging Technology Forum, taking place virtually November 2-4, to get updates on cybersecurity, NG9-1-1, public safety spectrum, FirstNet and the latest from the FCC. In between sessions attendees can visit product displays and chat with exhibitors about their technology. The Forum is worth 12 CEUs and is only $25 for APCO members. Learn more
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APCO is seeking volunteers to help create an ANSI standard titled Non-9-1-1 Call Processing and Dispatch. As new services become available to the public, ECCs will be tasked with receiving and processing calls from sources other than 9-1-1 requiring new policies and procedures. APCO is looking for a well-balanced group, including contributions from training, technical and operational subject matter experts. All interested persons should complete the online application. The deadline is October 24, 2021.
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WKDZ
The Kentucky State Police was recognized as 2021 Public Safety Answering Point of the year. It answered nearly 26,000 9-1-1 calls and 75,000 non-emergency calls. It also dispatched and received hundreds of thousands of radio transmissions.
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Coral Springs Talk
Telecommunications Supervisor Melissa Ayers instructed a 14-year-old girl on how to perform CPR for her mother who was not breathing.
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The Sentinel-Record
Corky Martin, director of the Garland County (Arkansas) 911 Communications Center, supervises 14 public safety telecommunicators and oversaw the ECC’s transition to the Arkansas Wireless Information Network.
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On September 17, APCO and others suing the FCC participated in oral arguments in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The oral arguments represented the last opportunity to explain APCO’s concerns in the federal court case challenging the FCC’s rules to expand the unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band. As background, public safety agencies rely on the 6 GHz band to support critical 9-1-1 and first responder communications. As the sole party representing public safety in the litigation, APCO cited several concerns about the FCC’s failure to consider the risk to public safety. Stay tuned for further updates and get additional background information on APCO’s efforts to protect public safety use of the 6 GHz band.
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On September 17, the FCC's Ending 9-1-1 Fee Diversion Now Strike Force adopted a report examining the impacts of 9-1-1 fee diversion and how to prevent it. The FCC was required to establish the Strike Force by law, with a September 23, 2021, deadline for the final report. A representative of APCO was appointed to serve on the Strike Force working group focused on the impacts of 9-1-1 fee diversion and underfunding of 9-1-1 services in general. Among other things, the report concluded that the priority from a public safety perspective must be ensuring that 9-1-1 has the funding it needs, regardless of the source of the funding. Read the final report.
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David Baker is program manager for the Arkansas Wireless Information Network (AWIN). AWIN is the statewide P25 Phase II 700/800 MHz public safety radio system housed at the Arkansas Department of Public Safety/Division of Emergency Management. Read more
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