Individuals/Organizations to Government + Obtaining and Providing Information + Communications During Emergencies

Access to Emergency Services by Individuals/Organizations amidst Disaster The universal emergency number in the United States is It exists as a function of “local” political will, cooperating partnerships, robust technology and a long term commitment to adequate funding, appropriate recruitment, selection, training and assignment of human resources at the PSAP.

Access to Emergency Services by Individuals/Organizations amidst Disaster The term has become synonymous with the single point of contact for immediate assistance for persons in crisis; It has also become the expected source of information regarding active and emerging events which impact a community or set of communities. It is expected that the PSAP “will know about it” – by citizens and responders. The monitoring of each active event is a challenge.

The Role of the PSAP / PS Comm. Ctr. The staff at every PSAP understand that their role in every event is to collect information from the caller(s), that can promptly be shared with field response units while maintaining a record of the information in the appropriate format; The event information must enable responders to effectively engage in decision making about arrival routes, mode, resource needs in addition to other “normal” public safety/service entities.

Information may be Dynamic, Complex and Confusing In the simplest call, one caller can speak, verify the location, describe the event, perhaps assist in helping the victim, direct responders to the scene, even prevent further expansion of the even and scene safety is not an issue; In the more complex call, less of these variables may exist; leaving the PSAP Staff to determine as best they can, the dynamics of the event. This is reported to the responders while enroute;

Information may be Dynamic, Complex and Confusing The event may produce multiple calls. Example: from victim, witnesses, immediate passerbys, late passerbys, third parties contacted by the parties, other PSAPs contacted by error, third parties contacted via alternate means, public safety officials not dispatched/assigned but in the area or on scene; In such an event, the PSAP Staff must collect, coordinate and assess the information. Often interpretation, decoding and verification is needed;

Information may be Dynamic, Complex and Confusing To this environment we must add the caller that seeks to access services via wireless telephones; This class of caller has expanded dramatically over the past few years; PSAPs often report that as much as half their call volume is from wireless devices and many must be processed as basic calls – i.e. without useful location information consistently associated with the call.

Information may be Dynamic, Complex, Confusing and “Different” Technology often moves faster than the ability of public safety to respond, such a case exists with caller seeking to access services via their IPS provider; VoIP telephony features have merit and must be recognized – yet another source of calls without adequate location information stresses an already burdened emergency communication system;

Standards and Best Practices APCO has reported in this and other forums that change and improvements are necessary; Public Safety Communication professionals must be included in the planning effort to reach the best preparedness goals of this country; The issue is how to provide meaningful incentives to all classes of PSAPs across the nation to adopt the standards which will reduce the gaps in the quality, consistency, accessibility of services;

Standards and Best Practices APCO has brought this topic forth repeatedly and finds little enthusiasm for dealing with it; failure to do so however creates a risk that additional strata will exist across an landscape that is already unevenly developed and deployed; APCO understands that some PSAPs/systems are ready now to move forward to expand access; we look forward to such model developments but that does not get us as a Nation ready to offer its citizens - in crisis - universal access to emergency services via

We are all anxious to make it a reality, within the environment in which such services are actually provided…everyday! Effective - Universal Emergency Communications is cited as a priority …