Interesting conflict: Red E. Fox and Woody Woodpecker weren't allowed to interact during the awards presentation. Seems as if Universal has strict rules to protect its Woody's brand identify, and requires the bird to appear by himself. In this case, Red stayed just our of camera range until Woody left.

The automatic crash notification (ACN) seminar was information, and generated some lively debate during the Q&A session, by some who seemed to be upset that telematics providers are creating new pathways to the comm center, are generating revenue from it, and yet don't contribute resources or money to PSAPs so they can handle the increased call volume.

Our condolences to the dispatcher pictured on NENA's wireless 911 brochure -- she is facing no fewer than six computer screens, using three keyboards, and three visible mice.

Speaking of video screens, Orange County replaced their tube-type CAD screens with flat, LCD models, which resulted in an average temperature drop of 8 degrees in the comm center.

We were fascinated by the framed sayings on the wall surrounding the Orange County comm center. One read: "You know you've been a dispatcher too long when you spend more on fast food than on utilities."

Who is this person and what is he doing?

DISPATCH Monthly Magazine's Coverage of the
Annual Conference of the
National Emergency Number Association

Tuesday, June 26, 2001

A full day of seminars, the trade show and tours of public safety comm centers were on the agenda for the second day of NENA's conference.

The association also held is first annual 9-1-1 Heroes Awards ceremony, honoring four children who dialed 911 to obtain assistance for someone in trouble. The youths were selected by officials of state chapters, which in turn were randomly selected.

NENA made the awards during a 10 a.m. event attended by 150 members, plus some TV reporters. Each award winner and a family member received a free trip to the conference (either paid by the state chapter or a public safety vendor), and as part of their award received a Universal Studios pass and gifts.

In fact, Universal's Woody Woodpecker appeared on stage to give each child a medal on a red-and-blue ribbon. Also appearing on stage was Red E. Fox, the mascot of the 9-1-1 For Kids program, under whose auspices the awards program is operated. Perched on the steps of the ballroom stage were a group of 20 children from an Orlando Boys & Girls Club, both for moral support and photo ops. A panel of NENA and APCO officials helped hand out the awards.

Before giving the awards, Nancy Swanson, president of 9-1-1 for Kids, read a special letter from President George Bush praising the awardees and the involved dispatchers. "You friends and family must be very proud of you," Bush said in part. Each award recipient also received a congratulatory letter from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Brandon Pope, age 6, dialed 911 in Centralia (Ill.) when his mother collapsed. According to NENA, "Brandon's call is very significant right now because of the lack of E9-1-1 service availability." The group said in a press release, "Despite that wireless 9-1-1 cannot current be located, Brandon gave his address right away and help was sent. Brandon appeared on-stage with his father.

Johnny Carr, 6, dialed 911 in Santa Rosa County (Fla.) when his father Jerry had breathing problems. Dispatcher Kenn Bass fielded the call and sent help, and accompanied Carr on-stage during the ceremonies.

Ethan Heard, 9, pulled his 3 year-old stepbrother Ian Castillo from the family pool in Arlington (Tex.), then dialed 911 as his father performed CPR on the toddler. His call was handled by Sylvia Bowers, but Gary Robertson, support services manager for the comm center, accompanied Heard on-stage.

Michael Mathis, 7, was riding in a car with his mother when she suffered a seizure in Thomasville (NC). Mathis was able to pull the car to the side of the road and stop, and then he dialed 911 on a cellular phone. Mathis was able to give dispatcher Richard Taylor his location and his mother was quickly attended by medical personnel.

Lastly, the 9-1-1 For Kids program introduced its newest promotion--a song about 911, written by rap songwriter-singer J-Flexx, who appeared on-stage to sing the song and get the entire awards crew involved. The entire group of children then posed for photos.

Interestingly, J-Flexx is a former "inmate" (aka producer and writer) of Death Row Records, and was involved in albums for Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur that included obscene and violent references. After Tupac's 1996 shooting death in Las Vegas, J-Flexx was apparently transformed and has since been writing songs that focus on ending violence and promoting peace. His most notable piece has been "A Change to Come" which points to previous violence among the east-west rap record companies.

Orange County Comms

In the afternoon we visited the co-located comm centers for the Orange County Sheriff and the Fire-Rescue. It's located in a large building adjacent to a 150-foot tower northwest of Orlando.

The entire second floor is occupied by comm center offices and support rooms (around the outside of the building), and the large dispatch floor itself (in the center of the building). The center has a very high ceiling--shaped much like a church--with glass walls at four ends. This gives the comm center a very bright, airy and comfortable feeling. One wall is covered with awards and commendations received by the center and individual dispatchers.

The workstations are bordered by 4-foot high partitions that enable dispatchers to see and hear one another. There are large area for call-takers in rows, a smaller pod of sheriff's radio dispatchers and, at one end of the floor, the Fire-Rescue operation [overall] [console] separate by a 7-foot wall.

Sheriff's dispatchers wear gray uniforms, while the Fire-Rescue personnel wear light blue (or white for supervisors). The sheriff's dispatchers work an unusual set of shifts--four 11-hour shifts, followed by days off, then three 11.33-hour shifts. The county kicks in "free" hours and a paid lunch, all adding up to an 80-hour schedule in a two-week period. They work one of four shifts starting at 7a, 10a, 2p and 8p.

The center was built in 1997 and fields about 6,000 telephone calls a day using a staff 166 (they 30 dispatchers short, if you're looking for a job). They claim to be the third-largest center in the country, behind Chicago and Philadelphia. Fire-Rescue handles about 200 incidents each day, dispatched to 36 fire stations and 144 vehicles. Fire dispatchers use Medical Priority's EMD cards for pre-arrival instructions.

Initial training for call-takers is 480 hours, and there is another 720 hours of training for those who want to push on to radio dispatching. All trainers are assigned laptops in order to keep trainees records and to prepare their daily observation reports.

The entire comm center operates on battery power converted to AC--there is no direct connection between the center and Florida Power. This has resulted in absolutely no power outages in the center itself, even when lightning or other problems cut the main building power. The utility's power is used to recharge the batteries (two banks, 3 hours capacity each), and there are three back-up generators. The building is also used as an EOC, and has a full kitchen, sleeping areas and weight room. A nearby school has been designated as a sheriff's office shelter-- employees and their families would be housed there during a hurricane or other major incident.

They use Positron's Power 911, Tiburon's CAD and Motorola radios (168 talkgroups) to track some 120 to 150 deputies on the street at any one time. Individual radio dispatchers track from 40 to 90 deputies each.

The center is in the midst of a technology upgrade their mobile data and records management systems, and add AVL.

Finally, outside in the parking lot we were shown the sheriff's command vehicle and the Fire-Rescue mobile command post. The sheriff's truck is a converted DUI checkpoint vehicle now equipped with radio and other gear. The Fire-Rescue trailer is more spacious, has cooking facilities and a dispatch area.

APCO Virtual Institute

Yes, the headline is correct--the APCO Virtual Institute was exhibiting at NENA's trade show. What's not obvious from the name is that the certificate and degree program in emergency communications is operated by Jacksonville State University (Ala.) under its Institute for Emergency Preparedness. It's affiliated with APCO, but does not use APCO's training materials for its instruction.

Program director Barry Cox says its the university's first curriculum that's completely on-line, although the school has been using distance learning-- live video, so-called cassette classes, audio and other links-- for various courses for many years. Cox says the program began with just six courses, but they're slowing building it up to its current 11 classes in response to students who didn't want to stop attending after they finished the six classes required for a certificate.

Cox says there are 150 students either registered or interested in the fall line-up of courses, which begins August 30th and will include:

  • EMD
  • Human resources management
  • Professional writing for public safety managers
  • Intro to disaster management
  • Social dimension of disorder
  • Concepts of wellness
  • Intro to public safety communications
  • Interpersonal communications
  • Legal issues for public safety
  • Intro to crisis intervention
  • Intro to weapons of mass destruction

Cox says that disaster management is a natural extension of public safety communications, and he expects that some graduates of the program will move on to that profession. He said the field includes preparation, mitigation and recovery from natural disaster (tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.), HAZMAT incidents and terrorism.

Registration closes August 14th, and you register on-line (of course!) at the university's Web site.

Wireless E911 Certification

NENA had a booth and brochures for its latest wireless initiative: certification for Phase II equipment. The brochure noted that the "problem" is that, "There is no recognized methodology in which to prove that the (Phase II) system is performing according to the (FCC's) standards." The association said that an improved public safety cannot be achieved without "objective, empirical proof" that carrier technologies are performing according to the standard.

NENA said the certification program is intended to determine the location of the wireless call within the required parameters, the correct routing of the wireless call to the designated PSAP, and the accurate transmission of relevant information and other calling data to the PSAP.

NENA has teamed up with RCC Consultants, Inc. to perform the equipment and system testing. According to the brochure, the process kicks off with the wireless provider contacting NENA, who will then sent them a start-up kit. RCC will then prepare a test plan for the specific wireless provider and territory, and also determine the cost of the test. The wireless provider and NENA will negotiate a contract for the test, which will be performed by RCC personnel. "Test data will be analyzed and the results reported to NENA," the association says in the brochure.

According to NENA, the testing procedures are based on requirements outlined in the FCC's OET-71 Bulletin. Contact NENA for more information.

Tomorrow: Major issues panel and the Kennedy Space Center tour.