April is National 9-1-1 Education Month – An Opportunity to Educate Your Audience on Critical 9-1-1 Issues That Affect Us All
(PRWEB) April 04, 2017 -- April is National 9-1-1 Education Month, and April 9-15 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. This presents an opportunity to help educate the public about important 9-1-1 issues, and to recognize the selfless work that 9-1-1 professionals perform nationwide.
The better educated audiences are about 9-1-1, the more effective emergency help will be in times of crisis.
Here are some story ideas:
NEXT GENERATION 9-1-1 (NG911): In many communities, the 9-1-1 system is still geared to the era of copper wires and landline phones. NG911 is an emerging set of standards for an Internet-Protocol-based system enabling voice and multimedia communications between a 911 caller, the 911 center, and responders in the field.
• Among the hottest 911 tech topics are:
o Texting to 9-1-1 which is under development in many areas but not yet not available in all communities;
o Cybersecurity as it relates to Next Generation systems; and
o Wireless-phone location accuracy, which remains far short of the ideal.
LOCAL 9-1-1 HEROES: Practically every community has 9-1-1 call takers who have calmly and professionally saved the day in recent dangerous situations. These stories make for excellent “feel-good” features and provide a means of both educating the public about relevant issues and honoring these unsung heroes of public safety.
• A “day in the life” profile can shed a lot of light on the system’s challenges from a local, human perspective.
• http://www.ThankYou911.org provides a vehicle for the public to say “thanks” to 9-1-1 professionals and contribute financially to education and wellness programs.
CONSUMER TIPS:
• Whenever possible, dial 9-1-1 from a landline phone; it may help responders find you faster.
• If calling from a wireless phone, get ready to mention a specific address, landmark, or a highway mile marker.
• Texting to 9-1-1 may be coming soon but it is not yet available in all areas.
• For more 9-1-1 tips, visit here.
CONTACTS:
• Breyana Franklin, breyana(at)dalecurtiscommunications(dot)com, 202-263-3676
• Chris Nussman, cnussman(at)nena(dot)org, 973-479-3939
Dale Curtis, Dale Curtis Communications LLC, +1 (202) 495-3700, [email protected]
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