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Your Partner in Public Safety and Management Consulting

This Month's Feature Article 



Is Your Emergency Communications Center Ready for 988?



Are you ready?


988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to trained counselors at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. In many states, the calls are being transferred to state and regional crisis centers. Effective July 16, 2022, people in mental health crisis can dial 988 for assistance. Is your Emergency Communications Center ready?


History of the Law


S.2661 - National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020, designates 988 as the three-digit dialing code to the National Suicide Prevention hotline, became law on October 17, 2020. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has required telephone providers to make calling to the hotline accessible by July 16, 2022. Additionally, on November 18, 2021, the Commission adopted a Second Report and Order to expand access to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by establishing the ability to text 988 to directly reach the Lifeline to better support at-risk communities in crisis, including youth and individuals with disabilities.


Why Now?


The suicide rate has climbed nearly 30% since 1999. 988 can open the door for millions of Americans to seek the help they need. No longer will a person in crisis be required to remember a ten-digit telephone number or decide which one to call. 

988 is not only addressing a caller’s immediate needs but is also making appropriate and accessible referrals and creating a system that connects people to a continuum of care at critical moments.


Click the "To Read the Complete Article" link below to find out more on


What Are States Doing?  

911 and 988 Working Together

Technology Supporting 988

Next Steps



To read the complete article, visit:  911 & 988 Are You Ready for the New National Crisis Lifeline? – Winbourne Consulting, LLC (w-llc.com)


This article was authored by Julie Heimkes, Winbourne Senior Manager. Julie spent twenty-one years in the field as a paramedic, 911 operator and 911 director. She has worked the past ten years as a consultant specializing in public safety technology projects including CAD, Mobile, RMS, 911, CAD-to-CAD and Operational Assessments. Julie can be reached at jheimkes@w-llc.com.

Public Safety News

Uvalde, Texas, Elementary School Shooting

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Winbourne Consulting would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the dispatchers and first responders of Uvalde, Texas. For those that wear the badge, the headset, the fire helmet, and EMS gear, we cannot thank you enough for your service to the citizens of Uvalde.


A personal note from one of the Uvalde dispatchers:

I am one of the dispatchers that worked the shooting. We dispatch for 17 agencies. And there are only ever two of us on at a time. We are responsible for all EMS, police, fire calls for the county of Uvalde. This includes the cities of Concan, Knippa, and Sabinal.


I am completely overwhelmed. Dispatching for over 10 years and I’ve never dealt with this kind of situation. Our agency is overwhelmed. If anybody wants to send cards, they can send them in to the Uvalde Police Department at 964 W Main Street in Uvalde, Tx 78801.


We are only 9 dispatchers, and our supervisor brings us to a total of 10. I don’t know what else to say but I just wanted to let you know that we’re here, struggling but pushing through. We have no go fund me pages and one of our two funeral homes is offering free services to the families affected. I don’t want anybody to get scammed out of money. Thank you for your time.” 


The above quote reprinted from Facebook page: Nocturnal Dispatchers

Winbourne Happenings

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Julie Heimkes, Senior Manager at Winbourne Consulting, has recently written an article about Integrating nursing and mental health professionals into 9-1-1 response raises the question of when their use is appropriate.” 


The article is published in the APCO PSC Magazine’s May/June 2022 Issue and can be found here:

https://www.pscmagazine-digital.com/pscs/0322_may_june_2022/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1784689#articleId1784689

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Winbourne Consulting has been contracted by the Stafford County Sheriff's Office (Virginia) to assist with the procurement of a new CAD, Mobile and RMS system. This is a follow up project to Winbourne’s initial Public Safety Software Needs Assessment report delivered this past spring. 

Industry Events

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June 11 - 16, 2022


At NENA 2022, you will not only hear about the public-safety issues of today and tomorrow, but also gain practical, real-world know-how that you can take home with you and put into action immediately. Featuring inspiring keynote speakers, more than ninety hours of breakout sessions that inform and empower, career-building courses and workshops with real-world applications, nightly networking events that help you make the right connections, and an Expo Hall showcasing cutting-edge products and services, NENA 2022 is the must-attend event of the year. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of it!

 

To learn more visit: NENA 2022

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August 7 - 10, 2022


APCO 2022 is the premier event for public safety communications officials, from frontline telecommunicators to comm center managers to public safety communications equipment and services vendors.

 

To learn more visit:  APCO 2022 | 88th Annual Conference & Expo




Articles of Interest

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A New Investment in the Responder Network Will Facilitate One of The Most Desired Improvements.

 

FirstNet will deploy small-cell technology to boost indoor network coverage for first responders.

 

An investment approved May 4 by the FirstNet Authority Board allows AT&T to expand indoor network coverage to primary subscribing agencies at police headquarters, fire stations, emergency communication centers and other critical sites and temporary field locations.

 

In-building network coverage routinely tops the list of responders’ desired improvements for FirstNet, according to FirstNet Authority CEO Ed Parkinson. The small cell technology will improve indoor coverage, provide additional network resiliency and give public safety agencies the flexibility to deploy it where Band 14 coverage—the spectrum dedicated to first responders—is most needed.


To read the complete article, visit:  FirstNet boosts in-building coverage - GCN

Advancing Public Safety by Protecting Critical Infrastructure

 

The need for coordinated response

 

As public safety priorities are expanding and natural disasters and man-made threats are increasing, agencies need the ability to share data – both between systems and across organizations. Having siloed applications poses a threat to incident resolution and progress by slowing inter- and intra-agency communication and reducing situational awareness.

 

By integrating everything from data analytics and visualization, records management systems, computer-aided dispatch solutions and mobile applications, agencies can enable rapid data sharing – from dispatch all the way to first responders on their mobile devices.

 

To read the complete article, visit: Advancing public safety by protecting critical infrastructure - GCN

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NextNav, GeoComm Partner to Improve Indoor Mapping for 9-1-1

 

GeoComm, a public-safety location intelligence platform provider, announced a new partnership with NextNav, a provider of z-axis vertical positioning, to enhance floor-aware indoor mapping for E9-1-1.

 

Recent regulatory requirements from the FCC require the 9-1-1 caller's vertical location to be determined with +/- 3-meter accuracy 80% of the time. NextNav's solution far exceeds that requirement, delivering +/- 3 meters 94% of the time, according to independent tests. Using local geographic information system (GIS) data and building information, GeoComm systems can convert raw positioning measurements received from wireless carriers into dispatchable locations including, but not limited to, building name, street address and sub-address elements such as floor and room number. Improved accuracy in locations empowers emergency responders to locate 9-1-1 callers inside buildings faster, saving more lives and protecting more property.


To read the complete article, visit: NextNav, GeoComm Partner to Improve Indoor Mapping for 9-1-1 (rrmediagroup.com)

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Amid shifting workplace expectations, local government employers must adapt

 

Written by Andy Castillo / American City & County

23rd May 2022

 

Constrained by inflexible budgets, local government employers can’t compete with the lucrative salaries offered in the private sector. And while recruitment has always been a challenge for public employers, the last two years have been especially difficult. From January 2020 to the same month this year, government organizations lost around 600,000 jobs—more than manufacturing, wholesale trade and construction combined, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

“What has changed is the value that the private sector is offering: high compensation, flexibility, and rapid career advancement. What workers, particularly younger workers, want has also changed,” reads a new report from Deloitte, “Government can win the talent race—Here’s how.” Younger workers are looking for flexibility in their jobs, independence and work-life balance.


To read the complete article, visit: Amid shifting workplace expectations, local government employers must adapt - Urgent Comms

AT&T teams with Intrado to provide location-based routing of 911 calls

 

Wireless emergency calls from AT&T customers will be routed to 911 centers based the caller’s location—not the location of the cell tower used to make the call—throughout the nation by the end of June, AT&T announced yesterday.

 

AT&T claims it is the first carrier to launch location-based routing, thanks to a new “Locate Before Route” feature from Intrado that leverages GPS and “hybrid information” from a 911 caller’s device to provide more accurate location information to a public-safety answering point (PSAP). This new routing method is accurate within 50 meters of the device, while the previous routing method—based on the location of cell towers—provides estimated locations in an area with a radius of up to 10 miles, according to an AT&T press release.

 

This legacy cell-tower-based location has been particularly problematic when emergency calls are made by callers who are near the edge of PSAP territorial boundaries, because the tower used to make the call could be in a different PSAP territory—or even a different state—than the location of the caller. Public-safety representatives have long cited this issue as a reason why some 911 calls are misrouted to the wrong PSAP, which often can result in delayed responses as information from a 911 call is transferred to the proper PSAP.


To read the complete article, visit:  AT&T teams with Intrado to provide location-based routing of 911 calls - Urgent Comms

We are interested in your thoughts on the above topics.

Please share them with us:


 Email: info@w-llc.com 

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For more information about our services and solutions, visit our website:

Winbourne Consulting, LLC – Your Partner in Public Safety and Management Consulting (w-llc.com)