An Emergency Call for Action in Washington, DC
By Mike King, Esri Public Safety Team
Last week, 9-1-1 professionals from across America met in Washington, DC, for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) 9-1-1 Goes to Washington event. This annual event brought together hundreds of 9-1-1 professionals, who spent much of the week discussing the important challenges faced by the roughly 6,100 emergency call centers across the country. These centers are staffed by professional telecommunicators who prioritize and assign the 240 million calls for help each year.
The event rang the celebratory anniversary bell for the first 9-1-1 call, made 50 years ago. The conference also brought national attention to the need for modernization of the 9-1-1 system, highlighted in an informative article in the Washington Post.
The NENA conference provided a stage for a number of outstanding presentations from industry leaders, including Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Ajit Pai and FCC Public Security and Homeland Security Bureau chief Lisa Fowlkes. Laurie Flaherty, the coordinator of the National 911 Program, provided a comprehensive overview of data-gathering efforts and insight into the pending next generation 911 (NG911) cost study. Other high-interest topics included device-based hybrid location determination, the reclassification of telecommunicators, and legislative activities by lawmakers.
In tandem with this event, at the annual NG9-1-1 Institute Technology Showcase in the Rayburn congressional office building, government 9-1-1 leaders and experts met with members of Congress and their staff to spotlight and advocate for the emergency call-taking industry.
A number of evening events were held to recognize individuals who exhibited outstanding leadership or actions deemed exemplary in emergency response. The 9-1-1 Heroes event included presentations from the 9-1-1 community, members of Congress, and executive branch leaders.
Esri congratulates the 9-1-1 community on 50 years of providing dedicated service to those in need. Esri joins them in pledging continued research and investment in improving location services. You can learn more about Esri's efforts in improving address database management, 3D mapping and analysis, real-time analytics in the dispatch center, and mobile capabilities and dashboards at http://go.esri.com/NENA911http://go.esri.com/NENA911