On July 17, APCO filed a letter expressing further concern with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC's) approach to expanding unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band. Part of the FCC’s approach entails encouraging industry stakeholders to voluntarily convene to address issues such as how to prevent and eliminate interference from unlicensed devices to incumbent users (including public safety licensees). APCO reiterated that the FCC has a responsibility to address these important issues itself and further explained why a voluntary industry effort is not likely to be successful. APCO also shared findings from a nationwide survey that confirm the threat to public safety of the FCC’s current approach to expanding unlicensed use of 6 GHz.
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On July 15, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously to pass H.R. 5918, a bill introduced by Congresswoman Matsui (CA-6) that among other things would direct the Federal Communications Commission to require service providers to provide ECCs with timely notifications of network disruptions that prevent the origination of 9-1-1 calls or the delivery of Automatic Location Information or Automatic Number Identification. APCO collaborated with this office to make sure the bill includes important provisions that notifications be timely and in a format that facilitates situational awareness. The bill passed the Committee in bipartisan fashion and next requires a vote by the full House of Representatives. Ensuring that ECCs have actionable outage information has been a priority for APCO, and we will continue to monitor the progress of this bill.
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APCO has announced the program for the next Emerging Technology Forum, taking place October 8-9, 2020, in Charlotte, NC. Topics will include achieving NG9-1-1 nationwide, the latest on FirstNet's efforts to improve public safety communications, well-being for 9-1-1 professionals, rethinking RFPs for NG9-1-1, cybersecurity risks and options, and more. See the full program. Full APCO public safety practitioner members can attend for just $25. Register today.
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Congratulations to the most recent graduates of the Certified Public-Safety Executive (CPE) Program that culminated with a two-week capstone seminar at APCO headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. Read more
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Cape Cod Times
Public safety telecommunicators directed fire-rescue to the 9-1-1 caller’s spot on the beach using latitude and longitude information emitted by their cell phone.
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19 News
A public safety telecommunicator directed the parents to begin life-saving CPR on the month-old boy; when the officer arrived on the scene, he took over the procedure.
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Fox News
VIDEO: Teams in Dallas composed of a social worker, a police officer and a paramedic respond to mental health-related calls that might otherwise be handled only by police.
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KEYC News Now
Officials say the service is useful for those with speech or hearing impairments. They warn users not to employ abbreviations or emoji’s when communicating with a public safety telecommunicator.
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News 13
The parents of a 7-year-old girl who was recovering from surgery gave her an old cell phone and didn’t realize that it could still contact 9-1-1. After their daughter used it to request confections, her mom and the police officers then explained to her that 9-1-1 is only for emergencies.
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10 Tampa Bay
The woman called 9-1-1 when her old refrigerator died with food inside. After reminding her to use 9-1-1 in emergencies only, deputies made arrangements to have a “gently used” refrigerator delivered to her house free of charge.
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MV Times
Major Susan Schofield, who manages the Dukes County (Mass.) Sheriff’s Office Regional Emergency Communications Center, blamed the problem on smartphone technology that automatically calls 9-1-1 if the phone is dropped or banged on something.
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13 WIBW
Erin Harrell, floor supervisor for the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center, was named statewide Supervisor of the Year. She said that she is passionate about professional development for herself and her colleagues.
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Urgent Communications
The platform allows emergency communications centers to receive streaming video from callers without significant hardware upgrades.
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News Channel 5
In the wake of a 2018 call where first responders initially went to the wrong location, Metro Nashville Department of Emergency Communications agreed to tighter review and reporting process if an employee's error results in injury or death.
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The public safety community suffered a great loss on Monday, July 20, 2020, when Robert "Bob" Bloom died in a vehicle accident at the age of 61.
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