Breaking Through: My Journey to Becoming the First Female NFL Official
Sarah Thomas is a woman of many firsts – she was the first female official to ever work a major college football game, the first woman to officiate a bowl game and the first to officiate in a Big Ten stadium. And as of February 7, 2021, she is the first female to officiate a Super Bowl. Learn more
Public safety telecommunicator Elyce Rivera took a job in a Philadelphia emergency communications center at the height of the pandemic and found herself motivated by the good she can do for callers.
Six members of the Northwest Regional Communication Center were honored for tracking down a missing woman who was disoriented and undergoing a medical emergency.
We want to know what superpowers you think telecommunicators have and what superpowers SHOULD they have to make this lifesaving work easier? Submit your entry by April 16 for a chance to win $100 for your ECC. Learn more
On March 9, APCO posted a blog with high-level talking points concerning three active bills in Congress that would: secure federal funding for Next Generation 9-1-1; correct the federal classification of public safety telecommunicators; and support wellness programs in ECCs. APCO’s government relations team is available to assist with additional prep and meeting follow-up as well. Contact gro@apcointl.org.
The Technology Leadership Awards recognizes ECCs for their use of technological advancements and the demonstrated benefit to their employees and the citizens they serve. Examples of projects could include but are not limited to CAD, public safety IT, broadband and more. Submit a nomination today; the deadline is April 1.
APCO is seeking comments for the candidate American National Standard (ANS) for Advanced Automatic Collision Notification (AACN) Vehicle Emergency Data Set (VEDS). This new standard provides a common data set that can be used to deliver AACN data to emergency communication centers (ECCs) and responders.
Tips to Manage Stress in the ECC Learn how to recognize and mitigate some of the specific stressful situations telecommunicators experience on a daily basis in the online course Surviving Stress. Worth 8 CDEs. Online course begins: April 6; June 1; June 29
Public Safety Communications Staffing & Employee Retention This course provides over 300 tips, guidelines and effective practices, including candidate recruitment, maintaining staff levels, shift schedules and employee recognition. Worth 8 CDEs. Offered as an online course April 6-26. Register
Recently I was in a career coaching meeting with a group of fellow telecommunicators where the instructor advised that we should start formulating our “leadership mission statement” if we aspired to move up in our agency. The instructor encouraged us to begin thinking about what we wished to accomplish as formal leaders and what we would uniquely bring to the table as far as our values, ideals and philosophies are concerned.
In pondering this over several days, I finally settled on my leadership vision, “to train, develop and mentor the next generation of people-focused 9-1-1 telecommunicators. I want to be directly influential in producing 9-1-1 professionals who value heart and humanity at the core of all that they do and emphasize compassion in their job.”
Read the article [originally published in the March/April issue of PSC magazine].
advised that we should start formulating our “leadership mission statement” if we aspired to move up in our agency. The instructor encouraged us to begin thinking about what we wished to accomplish as formal leaders and what we would uniquely bring to the table as far as our values, ideals and philosophies are concerned.