Virginia Chapter

National Emergency Number Association

 

 

Announcements

 

Officer Elections – Hershel Kreis (James City County) was installed as President and Buster Brown (Danville) as First Vice President for the 2009-2010 year.  Allan Weese was elected to the position of Second Vice President.  Susan Rorrer was reelected to the office of Secretary and Chris Knights to the office of Treasurer.  Denise Johnson (Prince George County) will serve on the Executive Board as Immediate Past President.  For more details, visit the Officers and Committees page.

 

Virginia APCO/NENA Spring Conference Presentations – Presentations from the 2009 APCO/NENA Spring Conference are available for viewing and/or download on the Chapter Conferences page.

 

Chapter Listserv – A new Chapter Listserv is now active.  All members with valid e-mail addresses were subscribed upon activation.  For information on the VA-NENA listserv, visit Listserv.

 

Fall Conference - The Conference Committee for the 2009 Virginia APCO/NENA/Interoperability Conference to be held October 27-30 in Roanoke has issued a Call for Papers seeking conference presentations.  For information, visit Chapter Conferences.

 

In The News

 

Iowa 9-1-1 Call Center First in Nation to Successfully Trial 9-1-1 Text Messaging

 

Black Hawk County First 9-1-1 Call Center to Participate in Landmark Effort Enabling Speech and Hearing Impaired Citizens to Communicate Directly With 9-1-1 for Help; Service to go live this July

 

Waterloo, IOWA --- The Black Hawk County Iowa 9-1-1 Service Board today announced that the Black Hawk Consolidated Public Safety Communications Center has become the first 9-1-1 Call Center in the country to successfully receive text messages sent directly to 9-1-1. This groundbreaking effort allows those with speech and hearing impairments to use text messaging to communicate directly with a 9-1-1 operator in an emergency. A broad team of communications companies including i wireless, Intrado Inc., Positron Public Safety and RACOM Corporation were involved in this effort.

 

The organizations worked collaboratively to support the public safety needs of the nation’s 31 million citizens with speech and hearing impairments who rely upon text messaging as a primary means of communications. Currently they must communicate with 9-1-1 operators using a relay center or a specialized communications device.

 

"The successful testing of text messaging to 9-1-1 from a wireless telephone is a tremendous emergency services advancement for individuals who have sensory disabilities," said Richard Ray, chair of the National Emergency Number Association's (NENA) Accessibility Committee. “I urge public safety agencies to accelerate the deployment of this technology and to encourage, support and celebrate efforts such as this."

 

“Increasingly text is becoming the way people communicate and public safety must be able to support 9-1-1 text messaging,” said Chief Thomas Jennings, chairman, Black Hawk 9-1-1 Board. “We are excited to have the opportunity to participate on a solution to enable 9-1-1 texting for the Speech and Hearing impaired community as well as set the stage for adoption by the larger texting population.”

 

“The state of Iowa has a long history of pioneering advancements in 9-1-1 technology as a way to enhance the safety of all of our citizens,” said David Miller, administrator, Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division. “We are proud to be part of this initiative to assist the speech and hearing impaired.”

 

The new enhancement to 9-1-1 utilizes Short Message Service (SMS) to establish a text conversation directly between the ‘caller’ and the 9-1-1 operator.  While SMS was not initially developed for use in public safety it has gained widespread acceptance by the Speech and Hearing Impaired Community and is becoming an increasingly popular form of communication. CTIA - the Wireless Association, a wireless industry organization, estimates that the number of SMS text messages exceeded one trillion in 2008. As part of this program techniques have been identified that will improve the overall speed and reliability of 9-1-1 SMS to make it even better for public safety communications. 

 

“This effort was driven by our desire to support the public safety needs of the speech and hearing impaired,” said George Heinrichs, Intrado president. “This breakthrough will not only enhance their safety but the safety of others who find themselves in special circumstances where texting is the best available means to contact 9-1-1.”

 

“We are excited to be a part of this landmark project to enable our deaf and hard of hearing subscribers to text message to 9-1-1,” said Michael Haskins, i wireless chief executive officer and chief operating officer. “i wireless has a strong commitment to public safety and to bringing innovative services to our customers, and this pioneering project creates a new method for requesting emergency services. We are proud to be the first wireless carrier to provide this capability.”

 

“The ability to reach the 9-1-1 center by text message will undoubtedly benefit millions of Americans, especially those who are members of the Speech and Hearing Impaired Community who rely on text messaging as their sole form of mobile communication,” said Brian Fontes, chief executive officer, NENA. “Today’s announcement demonstrates what can be achieved through commitment and dedication to improving public safety and helping those who rely on 9-1-1 for help.”

 

The trial solution in Black Hawk County is in restricted test mode with plans to go live in early July of 2009. Black Hawk County citizens will be notified when the service is available. To find out when this service will be available in your area please contact your wireless carrier. It’s important to note that a voice call remains the best way to contact 9-1-1. Texting to 9-1-1 should be limited to use in situations where a voice call is not possible.

 

 

Are You Interested In Becoming An

Emergency Number Professional (ENP)?

 

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Quick Links

 

National Emergency Number Association

Virginia Chapter APCO

VITA Public Safety Communications Division (Wireless Board)

 

 

Welcome to the Virginia Chapter’s website.  The Executive Board has developed this site to provide key information and resources for its members, other 9-1-1 professionals, and the general public served by Virginia’s outstanding 9-1-1 system and the personnel in the jurisdictional public safety answering points (PSAP’s) throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.  We welcome your feedback and suggestions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Last Updated June 17, 2009

 

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