Public Safety Signals

John Tedford Says:

Hey Charles, I have Verizon, and have had to call 911 from it. They do have their own 911 service and are very promt to get you to a local 911 dispatch.

John

March 12th, 2009 at 11:16 am

Michael Brown Says:

Recently the 911 call center for Atlanta/Fulton County Georgia has come under some serious negative scrutiny. The director for center has resigned. Part of the issue was the failure in staff receiving calls and I am willing to bet that the issue Dr Mosser has brought up with her colleague has at least a little to do with a few key failures.

March 17th, 2009 at 7:27 am

Dr. Marian Mosser Says:

Talking about communications:
Florida Division of EM uses YouTube. On January 6, 2009 Florida residents (anyone for that matter) and emergency officials can now receive daily situation reports produced by the Florida Division of Emergency Management online via the worldwide web service YouTube, keywords: “Florida SERT” available at http://www.youtube.com/FloridaSERT

Daily reports from DEM are designed to give a quick snapshot of daily operations, statewide weather reports and hazardous conditions that are being monitored by the State Watch Office, the 24 / 7 operations facility for the state of Florida. This product is part of an ongoing initiative by the Division and State Emergency Response Team to incorporate new media resources to better inform Floridians. Check it out on YouTube.

March 17th, 2009 at 2:08 pm

Michael M. Brown Says:

Dr. Mosser, speaking of communication. The 911 communications call center, how important is this function to the EM process? Is it feasible and maybe practical to combine the EM and 911 functions under one division?

March 17th, 2009 at 4:48 pm

Dr Mosser Says:

Michael,
To answer your question “Is it feasible and maybe practical to combine the EM and 911 functions under one division?” Sometimes yes and sometimes no.
911 is extremely important to the emergency management enclave. Most local emergency management offices are tied to 9/11 call centers. For example, the 9/11 center answers the phone for the EM folks after duty hours in most instances. Many EM county offices have 9/11 centers in their same building. Who runs and manages these centers is another issue. Most often the 9/11 centers are under the control and direction of the local sheriff not under the EM county director or public safety director. It is important to remember the responsibilities of an county EM director when examining first response. He/she is not a first responder, but the individual responsible on a day-to-day basis for a jurisdiction’s effort to develop a capability (planning and preparedness) for coordinated response to and recovery from the effects of emergencies and large-scale disasters. Many people continue to use different titles for EM directors and debate the exact job duties of an emergency manager; but then we are talking about a discipline that yet, is to emerge. What an exciting time to be in disaster/emergency management and defining the roles, responsiblities and future.
Thank you for your questions and the expertise you bring to the field of EM. thoughts?

March 24th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

Jessica D. Fena Says:

I had no idea that this was an issue, thanks God I never had to call 911 from a cellphone before, I also have Verizon, I’m very relieve to know they have a 911 service that is quick to respond.

April 2nd, 2009 at 9:32 am

Michael Brown Says:

Dr. Mosser, thanks.

April 3rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm

John Ellison Says:

This problem is not universal… We have all cell phone companies routing direct to our PSAP and have had for years. Check with your local officials but be aware this may be a problem when you travel.

Within a few month we will have all 67 counties in Alabama Phase II capable which means we can receive the lat-lon coordinates of callers when they dial 9-1-1 subject to some restrictions.

http://www.nena.org/cellular-wireless-911 is a good source of info.

April 4th, 2009 at 4:25 am

Pat Savage Says:

Phase II compliance, as mandated by the FCC, requires all cellular carriers to provide cell phones that are GPS-enabled and that transmit the cell phone number and Latitude/Longitude information to the PSAP. Part of the mandate states that upon request of a PSAP, a wireless carrier has 6 months to provide the location information and that it must prove the accuracy of that location data(wireless accuracy testing).
It is the individual PSAP’s that must have the required equipment to make use of that location data. Specifically a CAD system or 911 Phone equipment (CPE) that will plot the latitude/longitude information on a map within the 911 center, and that it has software that can perform a re-bid at any given time (a function that updates the lat/long info in the case of a “moving target”).
Pennsylvania is operates as a commonwealth, which means the authority for 911 is vested at the County level. However, the state emergency management bureau (PEMA)helps counties deploy phase II services from carriers by helping fund CAD systems that provide the needed functionality, mapping systems and programs, wireless accuracy testing, etc. Most of this funding comes from the $1.00 surcharge for 911 service that wireless carriers charge their customers.
Currently in PA, there are 59 out of 69 counties certified phase II compliant, 6 counties having issues with a particular wireless service provider but are otherwise phase II compliant, and 4 that are not phase II. 2 of those should be phase II within a few months.
With all that background information, it is important to note that there are requirements that the wireless carriers need to meet, as well as requirements that the individual PSAP’s need to meet.
All that being said, currently there are very few PSAP’s that have provided the public with a mechanism to transmit text messages and/or images from cell phones and IP-enabled phones (phone via internet)directly to the 911 dispatch centers. The push to provide that level of service will be significant moving forward (Next Generation 911).

April 9th, 2009 at 10:42 am

Major Graham Newbold Says:

The 911 response challenge is an interesting aspect of a growing problem with emerging satellite based communications technologies across all domains of emergency response. This goes beyond the traditional perspective of the telephone call to 911 and moves into the area of devices and associated systems such as OnStar in automobiles, satellite based tracking devices such as SPOT Messenger with a 911 features, to the Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) and beyond to the Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs)/Emergency Positioning Indicator Beacons (EPIRBs) in aircraft and boats. There is a convergence of these technologies that is and will stretch response capacity of all responsible agencies to the limit. It will also require, in my opinion, a paradigm shift in how we understand distress (emergency) notification by the public and require new relationships/interoperability understandings among response organizations. While this only touches the surface it is a very new and rapidly emerging area of concern that most organizations are not yet even aware.

There is a growing uneasiness in the Canadian Search and Rescue system about the implications. It is beginning to spill over into the traditional fire and police services responce agencies (RCMP as an example)as well. Keep an eye open and consider the expectations of the public and the commercial providers of these lucrative devices in the near future.

Cheers, Gray Newbold

April 13th, 2009 at 5:10 pm

Charles Tiffin Says:

Gray, excellent point! Mobile devices take this issue to an entirely new level of consideration. As to the issue of what constitutes an emergency; while working in a PSAP I was amazed at the nature of the “non-emergency” calls that came in on the 9-1-1 line. I believe that more public education and the further expansion of non-emergency lines will help in this regard. Then we only have the technological issues to consider.

Thanks for sharing your comment and expertise.
Charles

April 22nd, 2009 at 4:25 pm

John Means Says:

In California all 911 calls are handled by the Hiway Patrol rather than the local PSAP on the assumption that most cell calls are made by motorists. This is becoming a problem with the growing number of people who do not have land line phones.

May 20th, 2009 at 2:45 pm