On May 29, APCO filed comments suggesting that the FCC require support for multimedia content such as photos, symbols, and maps in Wireless Emergency Alerts by May 2019. APCO also recommended that the FCC adopt an approach to enhancing the WEA system that eliminates the disparity between what’s broadly available for wireless network users and what’s available for WEA. APCO’s comments can be found here.
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Recently, the National Non-Emergency Mobile Number Act was introduced, which would require the Federal Communications Commission to "designate a national dialing short code for users of mobile voice service to reach public safety personnel in critical, but non-emergency circumstances." The bill does not specify details, but the intent is to consolidate the short codes used on highways in some states (i.e., Florida *347; Georgia *477; South Carolina & North Carolina *47; Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey #77; Massachusetts *677; and New Hampshire *77). At least in some states, such numbers are intended to shift calls for problems like disabled vehicles away from 9-1-1, allowing public safety telecommunicators to focus on more significant matters.
APCO was consulted prior to the bill’s introduction and shared several considerations without formally endorsing or opposing the bill. While reducing non-emergency calls to 9-1-1 is no-doubt helpful, it’s unclear whether a nationwide highway short code would achieve the benefits without significant drawbacks. For example, states may have different policies regarding whether to use a highway short code at all, when to call the highway short code instead of 9-1-1, and how calls to a highway short code are handled. Thus, establishing a single short code nationwide could be confusing and potentially result in emergency and non-emergency calls going to the wrong place. Additionally, a nationwide highway short code could impose costs upon states and PSAPs to modify telephone network switching equipment and amend interconnection arrangements.
If you’d like to help inform APCO’s position on this proposed law, please contact GRO@apcointl.org. We’d like to better understand why your state has or has not implemented a highway short code, the types of calls intended for it, how many non-emergency calls to 9-1-1 could be prevented by a highway short code, and what you think the impact of a nationwide highway short code would be.
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Getting involved in the APCO's standards development process is an excellent way to take your professional game to the next level and contribute to producing standards for public safety communications. It may seem intimidating but it is not. And you will meet people from across the country who share common interests and goals in public safety communications. You do not need to be an expert to participate, you just need to be willing to contribute and use your skills to accomplish a common goal.
APCO is currently seeking members for the Standards Development Committee and three Subcommittees (Technical, Operational and Training)
Submit an Application Today
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 You can place your orders through the APCO online store now until July 2. Conference attendees can save on shipping by entering the code APCO2018 in the shopping cart. You will pick up your orders at the registration booth at APCO 2018.
Order your T-shirt now!
Other items from the APCO store can be purchased at the same time and can be picked up at APCO 2018 in Las Vegas or shipped to you for a small fee. Please note, shirts and other APCO merchandise will not be available for purchase onsite this year.
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 Robbie began her law/fire/ems telecommunicator career in 2009 at the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) while consolidated with municipal police and fire "on paper only." She transitioned with ECSO to the consolidated center, the Regional Emergency Dispatch Authority, where she has served as CTO, Supervisor/Training Coordinator and Executive Director, a position she has recently resigned to pursue other opportunities in the industry.
She holds both a BAS and MSE from the University of the Southwest, as well as Master's level instructional and executive level PST certifications from the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, where she was instrumental in the development and ratification of state statute for the use of APCO PST I as the basic curriculum in the state’s PST Academy. Robbie considers training and instruction very fulfilling and rewarding.
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On June 21, the FCC will hold a webinar on the Emergency Alerts System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. The webinar is intended to help ensure state and local governments are ready and able to utilize these alerting systems when they are needed. FCC staff will discuss issues such as how these systems work, who is eligible to initiate alerts, the targeting of messages to particular geographic areas, and the latest developments at the FCC. Register.
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Current
County executive says telecommunicators, supervisors and administrative staff "worked as part of a well-oiled machine" in response to the May 25 tragedy.
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rrstar.com
About 100 came to remember her career responding to emergencies for the Northern Illinois agency.
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Robert "Bob" Lee Parson, who worked as a full-time public safety telecomunicator and EMT for the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center, passed away on Tuesday, May 22, 2018, at the Bayhealth-Milford Memorial Hospital in Delaware. He was 52.
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ABC 15 News
A South Carolina dispatch has noticed the uptick as people hit the wrong button while sleeping.
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Atlanta Journal Constitution
The new software will allow the use of live video, better location information to improve response times and will allow the public to text public safety telecommunicators.
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