from Ugent Communications

911 training legislation is a labor of love

Apr 29, 2010 2:29 PM, By Glenn Bischoff
Would require Florida call-takers and dispatchers to become certified

The state of Florida House of Representatives yesterday unanimously approved a Senate bill that would require newly hired 911 call-takers and dispatchers to compile 232 hours of training before they are allowed to handle an emergency call. The requirement takes effect in October 2012. Personnel hired before then would be required to take a competency exam. Those who fail that exam would be required to undergo the training regimen. The bill also authorizes the use of funds generated by the state’s 911 tax for the training.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ken Roberson, said an investigation revealed that although the majority of 911 calls are handled properly by Florida’s telecommunicators, “hundreds of critical errors that endanger lives” occur every year. He was critical of Florida’s lack of uniform training standards and alleged that some telecommunicators in the state start processing 911 calls within a couple of days of being hired. “This situation is unacceptable and must be rectified,” he said.
The Denise Amber Lee Foundation was a driving force behind the passage of this legislation. The 21-year-old Lee, the mother of two young children, was abducted from her Florida home in January 2008 and murdered. Allegedly, 911 personnel made mistakes on the night of her abduction that hindered search efforts. She was found in a shallow grave two days after her abduction. Her assailant was convicted and received the death penalty.
Mark and Peggy Lee, the in-laws of Denise Amber Lee who are the driving force behind the foundation, said that they were pleased with the bill’s passage and that Gov. Charlie Crist has indicated that he will sign it into law. However, the Lee’s have some concerns. They wonder where the money will be found to conduct the training throughout the state. They say that the state’s 911 fees only cover about two-thirds of the costs associated with operating its public-safety answering points.
They also say that the state is going to have to find a way.
“The call-taker is the first link in the chain, and it’s a pretty important link. If they don’t get it right, you’re not going to get firefighters to fires, EMTs to medical emergencies, or police to an abducted woman who’s in the back of a moving car,” Peggy Lee said. “So, they might have to put off that new CAD system for a year. The best technology in the world is no good if the call-taker isn’t following protocol.”
Compliance is another area of concern. “How do we know that each PSAP is going to comply with the law? We don’t want to see 253 cowboys out there doing this on their own,” Mark Lee said. “We need a stronger state 911 office for oversight.”
The Lees hope that the Florida legislation is but a stepping stone to the foundation’s much bigger goal, which is federal legislation that would standardize training and require certification for 911 telecommunicators nationwide. They said that they have had productive discussions about such a bill with the leaders of the major public-safety communications associations. “There’s a lot more that needs to be done,” Mark Lee said.
Patrick Halley, government affairs director for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), said that a joint effort with the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials should produce standards that address 911 telecommunicator training and quality assurance, which in turn could provide a framework for the federal legislation that the Lees seek. But he said that such a bill would be a tricky proposition.
“It’s a state-sovereignty issue,” Halley said. “It would be tough for the federal government to tell the states that they have to train, and in a specific way. If anything occurs on the national level, it’s going to have to be creatively done.”
But Halley agrees with the Lees that it needs to be done.“In Illinois, for example, you have to be certified to work in a tanning center or barber shop, but not in a 911 center,” he said. “That has to be resolved. A lot of states do a great job [regarding training], but only a handful of them are required by law to do so.”
The lobbying effort to achieve such legislation has taken a toll on the Lees. Not only have they devoted much time, they also have gone into their own pockets at times. They also have had to endure numerous arrows that have been tossed in their direction. “We’ve been called ‘media whores.’ We’ve been accused of using this as an excuse to take vacations,” Peggy Lee said.
“Believe me, telling this story over and over again hasn’t been fun. We’re spent.”
Despite this, both Mark and Peggy Lee were emphatic that the effort has been worthwhile and that they have plenty of fight still left in them to reach the ultimate goal. The motivation is as simple as it is pure.
“This keeps Denise from dying in vain,” Peggy Lee said. “We’ve often asked the question, ‘Why Denise.’ This is the only thing that we can think of. In doing this, we know that she’s saving lives.”

http://urgentcomm.com/policy_and_law/news/911-training-legislation-20100429/

Florida NENA

Unbelievable. We're on our way up to Tallahassee as I type to speak in front of the Florida House committee to urge them to pass HB355. Nathan and Rick will be there on Thursday to speak to the Senate Committee to urge them to pass SB742. Both bills are identical and both bills call for mandatory certification and training for all 9-1-1 call takers in the state of Florida.

Now, FL NENA opposes it. Why? Money. At least that's what they say. There are not enough funds. That's ridiculous! They oughta find the funds. It should not take rocket science and more studies. Get someone in there smart enough to find it. We're paying for it on our cell phone bills already. Where is that money going?

How many more people have to die due to call taker error???? They are the first link in the chain of our public safety. How can you put a price on Denise's life? or Olidia Kerr Day's life? or Brian Woods life? or Jennifer Johnson's life? and they are just a few in the past two years that we've HEARD about. How many have we not heard about that were covered up?

It's also odd considering we're working with and have the support of national NENA.... Unfriggin' believable.

These bills will not only help protect our citizens but they will help protect our first responders. The Florida Fraternal of Police support the bill! They agree wholeheartedly that something must be done.

But FL NENA apparently wants to spend the money elsewhere. That's just unconscionable IMO. If the call taker does not get the call right then the fireman may not make it to the fire, the EMT may not make it to the medical emergency, and the police may not be able to prevent an abduction about to be murder (as in Denise's case) in progress.

And more people like Brian Wood from North Port may be left lying beside the road "barely alive" and "soon to be dead" and then finally "dead" for 18 hours!

Ugh~

NENA letter written by Craig Whittington to NBC

The letter below is from the current President of NENA to NBC in response to the Today Show airing last week. Momentum for National training and certification standards is building!!

To all NENA members and 9-1-1 professionals proudly serving in our nation's PSAP's. The follow letter was sent to NBC Last Friday...

Craig W

Craig Whittington, ENP
9-1-1 & Special Projects Coordinator
Guilford Metro 9-1-1
Greensboro, NC
NC NENA 9-1-1 Hall of Frame

President
National Emergency Number Association (NENA)

On Thursday, January 7, NBC's Today show ran a segment entitled, "911 [sic] Emergency: Are Operators Ready for Your Call?" Like anyone who saw this report, my heart goes out to Ms. Cantrell and her family. The loss of a child, especially one as young as Matthew, is every parent's worst nightmare. Mr. Rossen's report highlighted a number of the most pressing issues facing 9-1-1 today, including insufficient training requirements and standards, the
raiding of state 9-1-1 funds, and a lack of strong coordination and oversight at both the state and federal levels.

However, I regret that the story did not adequately represent the reality of 9-1-1 service in this country. Americans have come to expect a high quality of service when dialing 9-1-1, and rightly so; the public's expectations have been generated because our nation's emergency communications professionals have provided the public they serve with reliable, consistent, timely, and professional service literally billions of times since the nation's first 9-1-1 system was implemented just more than forty years ago.

Since the beginning, 9-1-1 has continuously and successfully adapted to changes in communication technologies and devices (cell phones, Voice over IP, etc.), overcoming a lack of funding, cooperative and proactive system planning and deployment, or comprehensive, nationwide standards for training of 9-1-1 telecommunicators. While the calls highlighted in the Today segment (including a Detroit call taker chastising a young boy for calling 9-1-1 and another telecommunicator falling asleep during a call) provide ample fodder for television and print stories, they are certainly the extreme exception and not the rule when it comes to everyday 9-1-1 center operations.

Additionally, no 9-1-1 call taker should ever be blamed if their local government or 9-1-1 Authority has not implemented practices designed to help telecommunicators save lives, such as Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD).

These implementations are major local policy decisions involving the 9-1-1 center, the local government, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provider, and Medical Director in order to ensure proper training, oversight, and regular audit and review. The decision to use EMD cannot be made at the discretion of the telecommunicator working in the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). Further, just "knowing CPR" as discussed in Mr. Rossen's interview with Ms. Cantrell does not sufficiently prepare a telecommunicator to provide CPR instructions over the phone. Walking a caller to 9-1-1 through a medical procedure, even one that may seem as basic as CPR, requires that an approved EMD training and certification provider certify the telecommunicator in EMD and that the 9-1-1 agency have an ongoing and approved EMD program (most often operated under strict state guidelines and inclusive of a regular Quality Assurance and Improvement process to assure compliance with the EMD program).

Nevertheless, no call for help should ever be mishandled. Any tragedy occurring because of a lack of training, supervision, or other shortfall of the 9-1-1 system is simply unacceptable. I, along with the thousands of NENA Members across North America, stand beside APCO President Mirgon, his association's membership, Congresswoman Eshoo, and the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus in our commitment to working with all stakeholders in the emergency communications field, including decision makers at all levels of government, to ensure that our nation's 9-1-1 professionals are trained and equipped to deliver the same
high-level service to every caller - no matter where they live or travel or what device they use to contact 9-1-1. That is why NENA, in no uncertain terms, supports the development and implementation of standardized, mandatory, nationwide training requirements for every 9-1-1 telecommunicator serving in each of our nation's more than 6,000 PSAPs.

Further, in order to ensure that all Americans have access to the 9-1-1 service they expect and deserve, the patchwork technical solutions of the past will no longer suffice. Our nation's safety and security from threats both natural and manmade necessitate a new approach. As was alluded to during the Today story, most states underfund the vital system and infrastructure upgrades that are needed to ensure that 9-1-1 is able to effectively and efficiently handle all calls. The public and policy makers must be made aware of the need for an IP-based Next Generation emergency communications system that harnesses the power of broadband to ensure that all entities in the response chain can communicate and transmit voice, images, and data seamlessly.

In closing, I am sure we can agree that 9-1-1 personnel are our nation's first first responders and their training must be of the highest possible caliber. Each and every dollar spent on the training of our 9-1-1 professionals should be looked at as an investment in the quality of life for the community they serve and NOT as just another government expense. No one should ever call 9-1-1 for assistance and not get the very best trained public safety professional (with access to the best available technological resources) to answer their call for help. Lives depend on it.

I look forward to working with NBC and all other media outlets on future stories fully portraying both the successes and shortfalls of the 9-1-1 system as we work to educate and inform the public and government officials about the challenges faced by public safety professionals every day and how we can work together to solve them.

Respectfully,

Craig Whittington, ENP
NENA President

Reader's Digest November 2009

911 Calls Gone Tragically Wrong


http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/911-calls-gone-tragically-wrong/article166229.html


One afternoon in January 2008, Nathan Lee returned home from work to find his two little boys crammed into the same crib, crying. Their mother had left behind her cell phone and purse and disappeared. Within a couple of hours, police in her southwest Florida town had a pretty good idea of what had happened to Denise Amber Lee. She'd been spotted tied up with rope—had even managed to briefly call 911—while in the backseat of a car owned by a 36-year-old unemployed plumber named Michael King.

Some calls aren't taken seriously because the system is burdened with stupid calls, especially now that everyone has a cell.Around 6:30 that evening, a woman placed an urgent call to 911 reporting the precise location of King's Camaro. It had pulled up alongside her car at a traffic light, and she could see someone crying out for help and banging on the back window. (She thought it was a child.) Just a few miles away, police were desperately searching for Denise with dogs and a helicopter.

But tragically, the 911 center never passed along the motorist's report. One officer later told Denise's father he was "sure" the Camaro had driven right by him, but no one had told him to watch out for it. The next time anyone saw Denise Lee was a few days later. She was lying naked in a shallow grave; she'd been sexually assaulted and shot. "There is no doubt in my mind that if the 911 call had been handled properly, she would still be here," Nathan Lee says. "It will haunt me for the rest of my life."

If there's one thing we think we can count on, it's that a frantic call to 911 will bring a swift and effective response. Government's first priority, after all, is protecting its citizens. But a spate of recent cases reveal shocking flaws in our national emergency response system—at a cost measured in lives. It's a system overstressed by boneheaded calls about everything from hangnails to poor restaurant service, weakened by state governments raiding its funds, and hobbled by the incompetence of a few bad apples.

"You roll the dice" when making a call for emergency help, admits Ronald Bonneau, who runs a 911 center 30 miles south of Chicago. "Frankly, there are centers out there where the operators are not very well trained."

One of those inadequately trained operators was the Pittsburgh-area 911 worker who took a call from a woman last April asking police to remove her 22-year-old son from her home. When the operator asked whether the man, Richard Poplawski, had any weapons, the mother responded, "Yes, but they're all legal."

"Okay, but he's not threatening you with anything?" the operator asked.

"Look, I'm just waking up," the woman said. "I want him gone."

The operator reported the call to the police dispatcher with a note indicating that the son had "no weapons." As a result, police walked into a death trap. Poplawski, a former Marine recruit who'd been tossed out of boot camp, had donned a bulletproof vest and set up an ambush. He opened fire with an AK-47 rifle and two other guns, killing three officers and wounding a fourth.

Then there's the case of Brittany Zimmermann. In May 2008, the 21-year-old University of Wisconsin student dialed 911, then hung up without saying anything. Never mind the audible screams and sounds of struggle in the background—all caught on tape—the operator insists she heard no noise on the line. She neither informed police nor tried to call back. Later that day, Zimmermann's fiancé found her stabbed and beaten to death in her apartment. The call, police later acknowledged, "should have resulted in a Madison police officer being dispatched"—an action that might have saved the young woman's life.

Human error might also have cost the life of Darlene Dukes, an Atlanta woman who called 911 last August gasping for breath. Dukes, 39, reached a dispatcher who already had a string of mishandled calls on her record and who, according to her supervisor, had once fallen asleep so deeply at her desk that she tumbled from her chair. (She claims she fell as she leaned to pick up a paper.) That dispatcher sent paramedics to the wrong address, 28 miles from the caller's home. By the time an ambulance reached Dukes, an hour later, she was nearly dead from a blood clot in her lungs. She died soon after reaching the hospital.

At least the operator in the Dukes fiasco was finally fired (she's appealing her termination). Incredibly, most of the 911 personnel involved in the other tragedies are still on the job. One of the two operators found to have botched the Denise Lee case was suspended without pay for 60 hours; the other, for only 36. The woman who gave the "no weapons" message to Pittsburgh cops was given paid leave. The operator who failed to act on Brittany Zimmermann's call was allowed to transfer to another county position.

This lack of accountability doesn't just allow incompetent operators to remain on the job—it gives workers with bad attitudes license to abuse the people they are paid to protect. When a Nashville woman called 911 last spring because her boyfriend was threatening her with a knife, an operator was caught on tape muttering to himself after hanging up, "I don't give a s— what happens to you." The call center apparently took its time forwarding the information, and police arrived three hours later. But at least the victim in that case survived.

Last January, a 911 operator fielded a call reporting that an Orlando woman, Loyta Sloley, had been kidnapped. The operator was able to reach Sloley on her cell phone, but she wouldn't—or couldn't—tell him where she was. He then brusquely lectured her that she was "going to be in some serious trouble" and could be charged for the expense of a manhunt if she didn't cooperate. It took nearly a half hour in all for the operator to dispatch police. By the time the cops arrived, Sloley's ex-boyfriend had shot and killed her and turned the gun on himself.

Maybe the most heartbreaking case of all was the one involving five-year-old Robert Turner . He called 911 in Detroit twice when his mother collapsed. But the dispatchers thought the call was a prank.

Police arrived to find the boy's mother, 46-year-old Sherrill Turner, dead on the floor. A jury convicted the first operator of willful neglect. But she appealed her firing, and it was overruled this past summer. She is already back on the job.

Bad operators are not the only issue. It's amazing how many idiots burden the system with stupid calls, especially now that nearly everyone carries a cell phone. In February, a Boynton Beach, Florida, man called 911 because Burger King did not have lemonade. He didn't get his drink, but he did get a court summons. In 2006, an Oregon woman called to ask the police, who had responded earlier to a noise complaint at her home, to return to the house. Eventually, she admitted why: One officer was "the cutest cop I've seen in a long time." She saw him again soon enough—when he arrested her for the dumb call. A California study found that as many as 45 percent of the emergency calls placed from cell phones in the state were frivolous or prank calls.

You can imagine what that does to the 911 system. It creates delays and overworks operators. And this is happening at a time when states are cutting back in every category and, worse, have begun raiding funds intended to keep 911 centers fully staffed and well equipped. More than $200 million in fees collected from cell phone users and earmarked for upgrades to the 911 system around the country have been diverted by state governments to pay for needs outside emergency response, according to a recent Associated Press investigation. In Wisconsin, $100 million meant for 911 upgrades will be used to plug other holes in the budget. In New York, a new fee instituted to fund 911 services will pay for general budget items and new police uniforms. Emergency budgets are getting "hammered," says Craig Whittington, president of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). "It's ridiculous."

Fortunately, people determined to protect the quality of our 911 service are out there. California recently enacted legislation that will impose penalties running up to $250 per call for needless 911 calls. Groups like NENA have begun publicly rebuking politicians who attempt to divert 911 funding to other purposes.

And some of the victims of 911 failures are turning their tragedies into crusades. Among them is Michael Cantrell, whose toddler accidentally strangled in a soccer net. Cantrell's wife called 911, but the operator could not, or simply would not, tell her how to perform CPR. Together with Nathan Lee, Cantrell has launched a campaign for a minimum training standard like the one required for paramedics nationwide. At the very least, our 911 operators should be willing and able to explain lifesaving procedures, warn police about weapons at a scene, and treat any child's call seriously, unless there's good reason to think it's a prank.

Maybe it's time we declared a 911 emergency. After all, what could be more urgent than making sure our national security safety net is up to the task of saving lives?




A Cry for Help
A tragic misunderstanding may have contributed to the 2006 death of Sherrill Turner, 46, who collapsed in her Detroit home. Her five-year-old son, Robert, called 911 twice. Help never came. Excerpts from the tape:

Robert: My mom has passed out.

Dispatcher: Where's Mr. Turner at?

Robert: Right here.

Dispatcher: Let me speak to him.

Robert: She's not gonna talk.

Dispatcher: Okay, well, I'm going to send the police to your house and find out what's going on with you …

Three hours later, Robert tried again.

Robert: My mom has passed out in her room.

Dispatcher: Where's the grown-up at?

Robert: In her room.

Dispatcher: Let me speak to her before I send the police over there.

Robert: She's not gonna talk.

Dispatcher: Okay, well, you know what? Then she's gonna talk to the police because I'm sending them over there.

Robert: [Inaudible]

Dispatcher: I don't care. You shouldn't be playing on the phone. Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there … and you're going to be in trouble.

Robert's mother, who suffered from an enlarged heart, was dead by the time police arrived. The first operator appealed her termination and is back on the job answering calls.



3 Things You Can Do
DON'T BE THE PROBLEM Call 911 only in true emergencies. Remind children that the punishment for a prank 911 call is serious.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE Find out how you can help Nathan Lee fight for change—and get involved in your own state—by visiting the foundation he started in his wife's memory (www.DeniseAmberLee.org).

SPEAK UP Is your state diverting 911 funds for other purposes? Find the number for your state legislator (votesmart.org) and call to find out. Does your area have training standards for 911 operators? If it doesn't, ask local officials why.

What Floridians can do to help The Denise Amber Lee Foundation

DID YOU KNOW????

That Florida has no mandatory training standard for their 9-1-1 call takers and dispatchers?

YET!
Florida requires barbers, nail technicians and landscapers to be trained and certified.

DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?
9-1-1 telecommunicators are our First Line of Defense in Public Safety and Homeland Security. They cannot be our weakest link!!!

NEEDED NOW!!!

Call, write or email your Florida State Representative and demand that all Florida 9-1-1 telecommunicators be trained and certified to a uniform standard.

Go to www.leg.state.fl.us to find your representatives.


For more information about our foundation visit www.DeniseAmberLee.org

Our foundation is supported by APCO International (Association of Public Safety Communications Officials), NENA (National Emergency Number Association), NAED (National Academies of Emergency Dispatch) and 911CARES.

Thank you, Mr Whittington of NENA for your support

God bless you and other 9-1-1 industry leaders and employees who are continually trying to improve their call centers. If we can help you, please, we welcome all opportunities to do what we can.

President Whittington Sets '09-'10 Objectives

Posted: Thu, 07/23/2009 - 08:18

As I begin my term as NENA President and look towards the next twelve months, I offer you four goals for our association. It is up to all of us, every member of the NENA family, to do our part in making them a reality.

•First, we must maintain NENA’s role as a 9-1-1 and public safety leader;
•Second, we must commit to growing our association;
•Third, we should raise the standards by which 9-1-1 professionals are measured by getting behind the Emergency Number Professional program;
•And, finally, we must advocate for mandatory state and national training standards for all who serve in our nation’s 6,000 plus PSAPs.

First, we must maintain NENA's role as a 9-1-1 and public safety leader.
NENA has become the premier public safety association in North America because of our active and involved membership. For me, volunteering for chapter and national committees and attending events and conferences has always filled me with a sense of purpose and prepared me to better serve the public we are sworn to protect. With that in mind, I encourage you to expand your involvement in NENA and to be a leading voice in your center and in your community. Share your experiences and knowledge with those around you. You can be the one who re-energizes your office. You can be the one who pushes for real change in the 9-1-1 system. You can be the one who becomes a leader in moving us towards a Next Generation 9-1-1(?) system. Remember, your participation is instrumental to moving NENA and public safety forward.
Second, we must commit to growing our association.
Every emergency communications professional would benefit from joining NENA. Reach out to those who have not yet made the commitment to be part of our family – one that will embrace and utilize their unique talents and viewpoints. Tell others about the benefits of NENA membership: the support system, the operations and technical standards and best practices, the educational opportunities, the unparalleled informational resources and body of knowledge. Let them know that everyone benefits when we come together to speak with a unified voice. Help them to understand the real difference they can make for 9-1-1 every day by joining our mission.
Third, we should raise the standards by which 9-1-1 professionals are measured by getting behind the Emergency Number Professional program.
The ENP designation is, without a doubt, the premier certification in our industry. Nearly two-hundred thousand people in North America and hundreds of thousands around the world serve in public safety communications. However, currently only eight hundred of these individuals are ENP certified. We need to do better. I call on each of us to make ENP certification a priority in 2009. If you are an ENP, take it upon yourself to mentor someone and help them achieve this milestone. If you are not already an ENP, I strongly urge you to begin the course of study so that you can take the test in the fall. And even if you are not yet eligible to sit for the exam, be proactive. Start participating and accumulating points so that you can become an ENP in 2011 or 2012. It is not beyond your reach!

And, finally, we must advocate for mandatory state and national training standards for all who serve in our nation’s 6,000 plus PSAPs.
Almost every state requires certification of police officers, firefighters, paramedics, barbers, and even tanning bed operators. However, sadly, many states do NOT have requirements regarding the training and certification of emergency communications personnel. It is our responsibility to ensure that any call to 9-1-1 is received with the same level of professionalism and expertise no matter where it originates. I am very proud to say that NENA stands beside organizations such as the Denise Amber Lee Foundation in advocating coast-to-coast certification, and I ask you and your organization to lend your support. Never should anyone dial 9-1-1 for assistance and not get the very best trained public safety professional to answer their call. 9-1-1 personnel are our nation’s first first responders and their training must be viewed as an investment, not an expense. Lives depend on it

These are big goals, but I truly believe that we, the members of the NENA family, have what it takes to accomplish all of them. Like you, I am dedicated to NENA’s success and to improving public safety. If what I propose sounds difficult, let me share this quote from old police Lieutenant of mine. He was a man who loved to be tough on us, not to be mean, but because he knew it would make us rise to the occasion. He said, “There is nothing you can’t do. There are just things you haven’t done yet.” Throughout my career and my service to NENA I have always tried to keep these words and their meaning in my heart.

I thank you for this opportunity to serve NENA, and I look forward to working with you this year. Let’s begin this journey together, so that next year we can look back and say that there truly was nothing we couldn’t do.


Craig Whittington, ENP
President

"Chaos Theory" from Urgent Communications

In light of DateLine airing again tonight, I thought I'd post this to update persons new to the case on what the foundation is doing and what we're fighting for. We so hope and pray such errors are minimized and that more people don't have to die needlessly. Denise's tragedy is not an isolated incident. Problems happen more than most people know. We can improve this folks! And people truly are out there trying but we need your help!

Jul 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Glenn Bischoff

Protocols and intuitive managers are key to reducing pressure in 911 centers.

Nathan Lee returned to his Florida home in the middle of the afternoon on Jan. 17, 2008. When he arrived, he found his two sons — a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old — together in the younger boy's crib. His wife and the boys' mother, Denise Amber Lee, was nowhere to be found.

She was found two days later in a shallow grave after being brutally raped. In the first frenetic hours after her abduction, mistakes allegedly were made by a 911 call-taker and dispatchers that hampered the search effort. Today, her family and friends are wondering why no national training and certification program exists for 911 telecommunicators, which they believe would help professionals in the sector better keep their wits in an intrinsically high-stress environment that becomes a crucible when things hit the fan.

The first 911 call on the day of Denise Lee's abduction was placed by Nathan Lee. The 911 center that took that call and two others promptly issued BOLO ("Be On the LookOut for") signals that allegedly were missed by the 911 center in an adjacent county. At some point during the ordeal, the assailant drove through that county with Denise Lee in tow.

Later in the afternoon, a witness called 911 to report that a child in the back seat of a green Camaro was pounding on the window and screaming hysterically. The "child" was Denise Lee, according to Peggy Lee, the victim's mother in law. According to Lee's family, that call was received by the same 911 center that allegedly missed the BOLOs issued after Nathan Lee's 911 calls. Somehow, the family alleges, no BOLO ever was issued for the call from the eyewitness nor were police cruisers dispatched, even though the eyewitness provided cross streets at several junctures until the car carrying Denise Lee peeled off onto another road.

Peggy Lee today serves as the community relations director for the Denise Amber Lee Foundation, which is lobbying for training and procedural reforms in the 911 sector. She has heard the recording from the eyewitness call and said the call-taker became flustered during the nine minutes she was on the line with the eyewitness. "That call-taker didn't know what to do — you could hear the chaos," she said.

Denise Lee's father works in that county as a police detective. He said in an interview on a network-television newsmagazine that a fellow officer told him that the officer was certain the vehicle drove "right by him" but did not pursue, because "he never received the information."

Local media reported that the county's sheriff defended the performance of the 911 center's call-takers and dispatchers that night but acknowledged that mistakes were made. Reportedly, two dispatchers were suspended as a result of this incident.

During the ordeal, Denise Lee somehow managed to get her hands on the assailant's wireless phone without him knowing and placed her own 911 call. She cleverly gave the call-taker vital information, such as the type of car, by speaking in a way that made her assailant think she was talking to him. After seven minutes the assailant caught on and the call ended. "That call was handled superbly," Peggy Lee said.

However, Denise Lee's location couldn't be identified by the 911 system because she used a pre-paid wireless phone to place the call.

The television newsmagazine posed this question: Could Denise Lee have been saved if the call-taker and dispatchers had kept their cool? It's a question that haunts her family.

Consequently, the Denise Amber Lee Foundation is lobbying for the creation of a national certification program for 911 call-takers and dispatchers. "We want to ensure that no other family has to endure the pure hell our family has experienced," said Nathan Lee during last month's National Emergency Number Association (NENA) conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

Craig Whittington, NENA's newly elected president, who spent six years on the organization's educational committee before joining its executive board in 2007, is in favor of such a program. "You have to be certified to operate a tanning booth, but for 911 — the most critical link in emergency response — there is no certification," Whittington said.

While a good idea, a national program likely would be difficult to create and maintain, said Rick Jones, NENA's director of operations. Funding would be at the heart of that difficulty. "When you address the need for training and certification, you indeed are going to escalate their costs," he said.

Jones said that 911 call centers ideally would allocate 5% of their operating budgets for training but acknowledged that such a goal would be unrealistic for many, if not most, centers in the current economic environment. "Their training has been cut, and their practice time has been reduced for various reasons, [but] basically economic," Jones said. "That starts to have a negative effect."

The negative effect is three-fold. Rigorous ongoing training, core-competency standards and proficiency tests would increase the likelihood that call-takers and dispatchers act properly and — perhaps more important — instinctively. This, in turn, would make them more competent and confident, leading to reduced stress. And the less stressed that call-takers and dispatchers are, the le
ss likely they are to lose their composure and make mistakes at crucial moments.

But such training, standards and testing largely are absent in the 911 world, a fact that Gordon Graham, the keynote speaker at NENA's conference, noted. Graham, a former California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer turned litigator and educator specializing in risk management, said, "Once you are hired, you will never have to take another test if you don't want to be promoted. The public deserves better."

To illustrate the point, Graham spoke of US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who landed his airplane in New York City's Hudson River in January after several birds flew into the craft's engines, rendering them inoperable. According to Graham, Sullenberger said in an interview shortly after his heroic actions saved the lives of everyone aboard Flight 1549 that he tried, throughout his flying career, to make small deposits each day into his memory bank, knowing that one day he would "have to make a massive withdrawal."

It was a sound strategy, Graham said, because doing so enabled Sullenberger to make instantaneous, life-and-death decisions on that fateful day. It's a lesson especially adaptable to the public-safety sector, whose personnel make such decisions on a daily basis.

"You will run into the unthinkable event someday, and you will have to make instantaneous decisions," Graham said. "Whether you are prepared to do so is up to you."

To prepare, Jones recommended that 911 emergency call centers at least implement protocols that every telecommunicator follows for every call the center receives. He suggested that centers adopt the protocols already established by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Institute or PowerPhone (a provider of crisis communications training), and resist the temptation to create their own.

"That's dangerous, because a local agency doesn't have the expertise," said Jones, who further cautioned that centers also should resist altering the national protocols, because "sometimes they over-modify them."

Emergency call center managers also can play an important role in reducing the stress encountered by 911 call-takers and dispatchers, according to Steve Wisely, director of APCO's Communications Center and 911 services department. He said managers should be trained to have a calming effect on telecommunicators. "It's important that the supervisory leadership has training that will allow them to act in a calm manner, even when high-profile incidents are underway," Wisely said. "The supervisors set the tone for the workers that are reporting to them."

It's also important that supervisors recognize when a call-taker or dispatcher needs to decompress or a shoulder to lean on for a few minutes, Wisely said. "A support system needs to be in place where a person can get out of their seat and go to a quiet place to contemplate [an incident] or talk to somebody, if they're troubled by it," he said.

http://urgentcomm.com/policy_and_law/mag/sops-training-reduce-call-takers-stress-200907/index.html?smte=wl

AP IMPACT: Cash-strapped states raid 911 funds

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_re_us/us_tec911_fund_raiding

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – 1 hr 7 mins ago


NEW YORK – More than $200 million collected from cell phone users for upgrades to the 911 system has been diverted in the last two years to plug state budget holes, keep campaign promises and, in at least one case, buy police uniforms, an Associated Press analysis has found.

Dispatchers say the diversion of money comes at the expense of improvements that would give crime and accident victims more opportunities to reach responders. Someone who has been kidnapped, for instance, may not be able to talk but might be able to quietly send a text message or a photo.

Cell phone subscribers in nearly every state pay anywhere from 20 cents to $1.50 a month for what is described in their bills as 911 improvements. In some states, the AP analysis found, less than half that money is actually going to help emergency dispatchers keep pace with the features of smart phones.

As states hammered by the recession look around for new ways to balance their budgets, the 911 money is tempting:

• In New York, only 19 cents of the $1.20 the state collects from each subscriber each month goes to emergency calling services. The rest pays for uniforms for the state police, a wireless network for emergency responders and the state's general expenditures.

• In Wisconsin, a new 75-cent monthly fee was supposed to pay for ongoing 911 operations and improvements. When the state's deficit grew, the state decided to divert $100 million in the next two years to local governments to reduce pressure to raise property taxes.

• In Arizona, lawmakers funneled $25 million from its emergency telecommunications fund, halving its size, and cut its monthly 911 cell phone fee to 20 cents. As a result, the fund could be out of money within three years.

"The issue of (fund) raiding has been a trickle for a few years, and now we're seeing the faucet on full blast," said Dane Snowden, vice president of external and state affairs at wireless industry group CTIA.

A highly publicized round of call center upgrades is nearly complete, allowing 911 dispatchers to automatically pinpoint cell phone callers. But emergency officials say that's no reason to raid funds set aside for future upgrades. After all, voice calls are just one of many things phones can do.

Dispatchers would like the capability to receive photos, videos and text messages from cell phone users in danger. Photos shot by witnesses with camera phones have already proved useful in catching bank robbers and flashers, for instance. Getting those photos to 911 centers — which could get them to police faster — could help solve crimes.

In several cases in recent years, kidnapping victims have summoned help by surreptitiously sending text messages. But because they can't send directly to 911, they've had to use intermediaries.

When David Deganian and a friend were abducted at gunpoint on an Atlanta street early one morning in 2007, Deganian managed to sneak a text message to his brother Arman: "We have been kidnapped. Please call the police and help us."

Later, the friend tried calling 911. The gunmen heard him, interrupted the call and took the phones away. Luckily, Arman Deganian was awake to notice the text message. He got the police on the case, and they rescued his brother and his friend that afternoon.

In a more famous case, a 14-year-old girl in Kershaw County, S.C., was held in an underground bunker for more than a week before she managed to send a text message to her mother from the captor's phone.

Upgrading call centers to handle text and video messaging would require new computer systems, communications lines and staff training, costing tens of millions of dollars per state, according to the National Emergency Number Association.

A complete accounting of how 911 money is spent in all states is not available, partly because most of the money dispatch centers get is funneled to them by counties. The Federal Communications Commission has been collecting information from the states at the request of Congress, and is expected to report its findings soon.

Oregon, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Tennessee are among the states that have dipped into their 911 money recently. New York and Rhode Island have been diverting their funds for at least five years. States started collecting the funds in the 1990s.

In the fiscal year that ended in June 2008, Rhode Island collected $19.4 million in 911 fees and used $5.8 million for 911. The rest went to the state's general fund.

Raiding the funds could reduce the money available for 911 upgrades even further, by reducing federal grants. After a round of 911 fund raiding during the previous recession, at the beginning of the decade, the federal government tightened its grant rules to discourage the practice.

To elude the federal government's wagging finger, New York is changing the name of its "Enhanced 911" fee to "Public Safety Communications Surcharge," to make it clearer that 911 is just one of its purposes.

Other states seem to ignore the grants issue.

Oregon collects 75 cents per cell phone per month. Although its attorney general's office concluded that federal laws on 911 grants prohibit using money from wireless bills for purposes other than 911 services, the state took $3 million from an $80 million fund that mingles wireless and landline fees.

"When people pay their bills, they see that they are paying 75 cents per telephone line to fund the 911 system. For the Legislature to turn around and divert some of the money to other purposes is disingenuous. It's just wrong," said Hasina Squires, a lobbyist who represents emergency communications officers in Oregon.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski's office and legislative budget officials defended the decision, citing Oregon's "extraordinary" budget shortfall. They said they took money from various accounts if they determined that doing so wouldn't disrupt core functions of those programs.

Tennessee believes it got around the federal restrictions by leaving the principal in its 911 fund intact and taking out $11 million in accrued interest in the fiscal year that ended June 2008. The fund had $54 million left.

"It begs the question: If you have that much money in holding, why is it still being collected from consumers? It doesn't make any sense," CTIA's Snowden said. "The E911 fund is appearing to be an ATM."

___

Associated Press Writers Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; Bradford Cain in Salem, Ore.; Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis.; Lucas Johnson in Nashville, Tenn.; Randall Chase in Dover, Del.; Michael Hill in Albany, N.Y.; and Eric Tucker in Providence, R.I., contributed to this story.

Federal oversight of 911 funds is needed (from Urgent Communications)

After reading the article on MSNBC yesterday, I went back and read this article by Glenn Bischoff. I thought I should post it here. I feel remiss in not posting it before. But as most of you know my world is a little topsy turvy right now. Quite the roller coaster. It is upsetting and word needs to get out. I guess I seem to some people obsessed with this stuff. Oh well. I don't feel so much obsessed as I feel driven and compelled.

I've been reading about the Leutjens story. There's so much more to it than people know. I'll try and post more later. But for now here's Glenn Bischoff's article about federal oversight of 9-1-1 funds. I truly wish I would have posted this when I first read it. I read so much about this stuff, I get almost dizzy and have to go back to re-read it. But it ties into the other article so neatly.

http://urgentcomm.com/policy_and_law/commentary/911-fund-raids-20090709/

Federal oversight of 911 funds is needed
Jul 9, 2009 4:07 PM, By Glenn Bischoff


It’s time that state piracy of money collected for emergency communications networks is ended once and for all

This week, the National Emergency Number Association, National Association of State 911 Administrators and the 911 Industry Alliance jointly issued a policy statement that addressed the long-standing practice of state and local governments raiding funds collected to pay for 911 emergency communications systems. These groups pointed out that federal law requires state and local governments that impose 911 fees to use the money for the intended purpose. They also strongly urged state and local governments to “refrain from diverting 911 for unintended or unauthorized purposes.”

That’s fine. These organizations are advocates for the 911 sector and issuing statements such as this one, and lobbying lawmakers and policymakers, is exactly what they should be doing — and they do a great job. But asking state and local governments to cease the siphoning, particularly in this economic climate, is analogous to me telling my dog to stay out of the treat bowl after I’ve placed it uncovered on the coffee table and then left the room.

A while back Congress tried to discourage this practice by passing legislation that would make any state that diverted 911 funds ineligible for grants from the Enhance 911 Act of 2004, which authorized up to $1.25 billion for public-safety answering point (PSAP) upgrades. Unfortunately, that has had as much impact as the bark of a toothless dog, as Congress only has appropriated $43.5 million to date. Spread over 50 states and several territories, that money is hardly incentive to keep states from continuing the piracy.

Another problem, according to Jeff Robertson, executive director of the 911 Industry Alliance, is the grant program’s match requirement. “They don’t bother applying for the money because they can’t come up with the matching funds,” Robertson said. “That’s happened in a lot of cases.”

So is it any wonder then that the state of Wisconsin recently moved $20 million collected for 911 to its general fund? Or that the states of Oregon, Hawaii and Delaware also shifted millions of dollars collected for 911 to their general funds? What’s to stop them?

On that note, I asked Robertson whether the time had come for the federal government to wrest control of 911 funding from the states. He predicted that “there would be a ton of opposition to that.” One concern is that states with heavier political clout might be able to wrangle a disproportionate share of the money. “Also, you’d then have three tiers that could skim off the top,” Robertson said.

As a follow up, I suggested that the federal government at least take on an overseer role by performing audits of how the states use money collected for 911. I further suggested tougher sanctions, perhaps making pirating states ineligible for any federal money, including dollars targeted for roads, education and social programs. What good is a sanction, after all, if it doesn’t hurt?

“That would help,” Robertson said. “If you put a spotlight on it, even if it’s just the auditing process, that would be great, because then the public would see it and politicians thinking of putting their hands on those funds would know they’ll have to answer to somebody.”

Indeed, a big part of the 911 sector’s policy strategy going forward, Robertson said, centers on educating the general public on this issue. The thinking is that if the public is aware of the potential negative impact on 911 communications of these funding raids — for instance, the inability to locate wireless callers and/or to take calls from VoIP users — it will put pressure on lawmakers and policy officials to make substantive changes or risk being voted out of office.

It’s a great idea. The public instinctively believes that the 911 system is going to work without fail, every time. It would be good for them to know that might not always be the case. It also would be good for them to understand that states which divert funds expressly collected to operate, maintain and improve the 911 communications system to other purposes are — philosophically, if not legally — defrauding the public. While there is safety in numbers, there also is power.

Some 911 centers can’t keep tabs on cell phones

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31786185/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/page/2/

Before you read the article on the MSNBC website, be prepared that if you click on the "green" links, you shouldn't expect to receive more information on 9-1-1, you'll get nothing but AT & T and Samsung adverstising. I like this quote “The more choices you have to reach 911 in an emergency, the better, and a corded land line phone should be one of those options,” said Brian Fontes, chief executive of NENA.

Brian Fontes is urging people to keep their corded land line phone while AT & T is advertising Blackberrys. Hah!

More of my opinion at the end of the article:

Aging systems can’t pinpoint some users when they need help the most

By Alex Johnson
Reporter
msnbc.com
updated 8:05 a.m. ET, Mon., July 13, 2009

Donnie and Sharon Leutjen and their 15-year-old granddaughter, Taron Leutjen, were found June 9. They had been shot to death, and their bodies had lain in their home in Cole Camp, Mo., for about two days.

Authorities know approximately when the Leutjens were shot because they got a 911 call on the night of June 7.

On the tape of the call — which investigators examined after the worried inquiries of someone who knew the family led to the bodies' discovery — “one of the male voices was directing Sharon Leutjen to sit down (and) put her arms behind her,” the sheriff’s office in Benton County, in central Missouri, said in court documents.

“At least two threats to shoot her and the other two victims” could be heard, the sheriff’s office said.

So why didn’t deputies rush to the scene as soon as they got the call?

They couldn’t. They didn’t know where it came from. Whoever made the call used a cell phone, and Benton County’s technology isn’t advanced enough to take advantage of location services that are standard features of nearly all cell phones sold today.

Benton County isn’t an isolated example. Cell phones may lure us with the promise of immediate help in an emergency, but depending on where you live, that promise can go unkept because of inadequate technology at one or both ends of a 911 call.

“Access to 911 from cell phones is very different from wired phones and also varies greatly around the country,” said the National Emergency Number Association, or NENA, the nonprofit industry group that works with governments to promote and institute 911 programs across North America.

In places that haven’t upgraded their 911 centers to the latest technology, “this presents life-threatening problems due to lost response time” if callers are unable to speak or don’t know where they are, the organization said.

That’s why emergency officials and wireless industry leaders say every household should have a centrally located, easily accessible land line for emergency calls. But increasingly, Americans are dropping their land lines and going wireless-only.

Some systems find only a cell tower

The problem is that, by definition, a mobile phone can be anywhere. It isn’t tied to an address, which automatically pops up on a 911 operator’s screen during a call from a land line.


As cell phones have morphed into all-in-one multimedia toolboxes, U.S. carriers have integrated technology to use Global Positioning System satellites or their own towers to triangulate a phone’s location. It’s called Enhanced 911, or E911, and under Federal Communications Commission regulations, such capability must be built in to at least 95 percent of the phones a carrier sells.

But that information is only as good as the 911 infrastructure.

A decade after the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act was enacted in 1999, requiring cell phone carriers to provide a caller’s location to 911, about 10 percent of the nation’s more than 6,000 call centers haven’t installed the equipment to use the information, NENA found in February. Those jurisdictions still offer only 1990s-vintage basic 911, which rely on callers’ knowing where they are and being able to communicate that.

“On cell phones, we do not have an exact location,” said Ken White, operations manager of the 911 center in Tulsa, Okla., which has asked for state help to pay for an E911 upgrade that will show a cell phone’s location and call-back number. Such information often isn’t now available, even though a little more than half of Tulsa’s 911 calls come in from cell phones, about the same proportion as they do nationwide.

E911 doesn’t solve all problems

Meanwhile, the 90 percent of systems that do relay a phone’s position don’t ensure that emergency crews will be able to find the caller.

For one thing, the accuracy of location data generally drops in rural areas, where older, less-advanced cell towers can be farther apart, the Congressional Research Service found in a background report for lawmakers late last year. And it can drop in densely populated cities, where a phone might show up as being at 1 Main St., with no indication of whether it’s on the seventh or the 77th floor.

Depending on the technology a carrier is using — GPS or tower triangulation — FCC regulations allow a margin of error of up to 300 meters for some E911-capable phones. That’s longer than three football fields.

The FCC also leaves it up to carriers to determine whether they’re complying with the E911 mandate. One way they can do that, it says, is “to prevent reactivation of older handsets” — in other words, when your contract runs out, the carrier can insist that you pay for a newer phone if you want to keep your service.

Analog system outdated in digital world

But the biggest obstacle is the underlying architecture of the 911 system itself.

The nonprofit 911 Industry Alliance found last year that most 911 systems still rely on older analog hardware. Even digital E911 operations are usually built — “or, perhaps more accurately, ‘jury-rigged’” — on analog platforms that reflect “the legacy telephone technology of the time the system was first designed,” it said.

That would be the late 1960s, when 911 service was optional and ran on circuits run by a single local land line provider. Today, call centers operate under scores of different local and state regulations that must accommodate not only land lines and traditional wireless phones, but also pre-paid mobile phones and Internet devices, all offered by dozens of deregulated carriers.

The result, the alliance said, is a fragmented system that leaves “many wireless callers without the benefits of location identification information when they call 911.”

That means a land line is still your best option in an emergency, NENA and AT&T said last week in launching a campaign urging Americans to keep some form of wired service for making emergency calls.

“The more choices you have to reach 911 in an emergency, the better, and a corded land line phone should be one of those options,” said Brian Fontes, chief executive of NENA.

More Americans dropping land lines

Americans, however, are increasingly disregarding that message.

Since 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked Americans about their cell phone service when it conducts its twice-yearly National Health Interview Survey. The number of U.S. households that have ditched their land lines completely has risen consistently.

For the first time, wireless-only households hit 20 percent during the second half of last year, the CDC said, compared with 3.5 percent in 2003. Those households include nearly 19 percent of all children in the United States, the CDC found.

And when one of those families has to call 911, “they are apt to be disappointed — and left in the lurch,” the 911 Industry Alliance concluded.

“Consumers are often unaware of the limitations of 911 service in various geographic areas or with respect to certain technologies,” the alliance said, something it said should be “a grave source of concern for policymakers and industry professionals.”


NBC stations KJRH of Tulsa, Okla., and KYTV of Springfield, Mo., contributed to this report.



More of my opinion

Are not the phone companies the ones cleaning up as far as profits and dollars?

1.) It's very confusing and I'm not sure any one is (if you know, and you're reading this please enlighten me) regulating how the fees are being spent that we pay on our cellular phone bills each month for 9-1-1 service. Where does that money go? We've been trying to figure that out. It doesn't seem to be going to the 9-1-1 centers. It's either going into fat boys and girls profits or into better cell phones. Maybe it should be going to 9-1-1 centers. Or maybe to newer towers or more towers in rural areas? Just a thought! Sorry to sound sarcastic but..... geesh! This is important!

2.) Lucky phone companies. If people are "stuck" keeping their landlines then the phone companies get to continue to send TWO bills each month. We're pretty much blackmailed into keeping our landlines if we want 9-1-1 service. Call me a conspiracy theorist but I wonder why should the phone companies step up and come up with a solution? Because it's the right thing to do and because it will save lives? If that were the case, they would have found a way by now IMNSHO.

3.) As the economy worsens and I can't imagine it getting any worse, but still it is.... people have to start cutting back where they can as far as expenditures. Mark and I got rid of landline months ago. Why? Because we simply can't afford it and we pray to God (that is at the times we believe s/he exists) that if we ever have to call 9-1-1 we're capable of telling the call taker where we are. If we can't! Well. I guess we're going to be S O L.

I do like this part:

Cell Phones and 911

Industry groups offer this guidance for cell phone users who find themselves needing emergency assistance:

Know your device

911 can be contacted from nearly every device that can make phone calls, but callback and location information can vary drastically among technologies and between regions. It is your job to know the benefits and limitations of various technologies. Contact your service provider for more information.

Memorize important information

Being able to tell the 911 operator your address (your parents’ names if you are a child) and your phone number will get help faster. If you aren’t at home and don’t know the address where you are, look around for a street sign or a building with a name on it.

911 isn’t as cool as you are

You can’t yet text or IM “9-1-1” to reach emergency services. That technology is in the testing phase, but for now you have to make an old-fashioned phone call if you want to talk to 911.

Adapted from “Making 911 Work for You,” a publication of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, CTIA/The Wireless Foundation and the National Emergency Number Association.

Sorry for ranting. But I just can't help myself sometimes! I wish I didn't sound so angry and frustrated. I wish people could see what's going on and what needs to be done. I know there are many people out there doing their best to see what can be done. But, to me, it seems to be taking forever and I'm so worried more people are going to die because we can't seem to find an answer with the phone companies. It's terribly terribly sad.

I apologize. Just know if you're calling 9-1-1 from a cell phone, please, be able to tell them your location.

Aside to Kevin: I love you. You definitely "get it". That is so appreciated:o)

Prepaid Wireless and 9-1-1 (Urgent Communications article)

My opinion, article to follow: While, yes, absolutely "the time for talking about this is over"! But, I'd like to add, we need to use those funds collected to be able to find these phones when someone calls for 9-1-1 assistance. Denise Amber Lee had the comm center on the phone for 7 (seven minutes). She most likely, fully expecting to be found. If we're not going to do any of this any time soon, we need to educate the public on what their cell phones and 9-1-1 centers can and cannot do. Too many people are watching CSI and Law and Order and have expectations about 9-1-1 that are quite simply unrealistic. So if you're just going to keep talking, at least, educate people. The woman who died in Oklahoma, Kimberly Rae Kendrick, the young boy in Australia, David Iredale, Jennifer Johnson in Tampa, Olida Kerr Day in Miami etc........ They all expected to be found through wireless technology and were tragically disappointed. Denise's call was made from the alleged murderer's own PRE-PAID cell phone. IMO NENA, and other 9-1-1 industry experts need to start educating people on how to use 9-1-1 from any wireless phone. They can't expect a sales clerk at a sales counter, making minimum wage plus commission, selling cell phones to do that job. JMHO. I've seen some literature but definitely not enough because regular folks, outside the industry, just have no clue.


Solution may be near for prepaid wireless 911 funding dilemma

Jul 9, 2009 5:51 PM, By Glenn Bischoff

The advent of prepaid wireless phones created a nasty problem for the 911 emergency-communications sector. Where wireless operators collect 911 fees from their monthly subscribers, they cannot collect from prepaid customers because those customers don’t have billing plans; they simply purchase minutes through various retail outlets.

It’s a problem that’s getting bigger, according to Patrick Halley, government affairs director for the National Emergency Number Association, who led a panel discussion on the topic last month at the organization’s annual conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Citing various sources, Halley said that 20% of wireless phone users are prepaid and that 80% of new users in May were such customers.

Moreover, Halley cited a report from the New Millennium Research Council that predicted that 60 million people nationwide would shift to less-expensive wireless plans as a result of the flagging economy. Many are expected to migrate to pay-as-you-go options.

“This is a rapidly growing market, without a doubt,” Halley said.
Several approaches have been floated to ensure that prepaid customers contribute their fair share to state 911 funds. The one that is gaining the most momentum calls for legislation that would require retailers to tack a 911 fee onto the purchase price of the prepaid wireless phone cards they sell, in part because it appears to be the easiest to implement.

But is this approach fair to the retail community? Mark Barfield, a vice president with Radio Shack, who also participated in the panel discussion at NENA, doesn’t think so. “There are tens of thousands of mom-and-pop stores that sell these things and many won’t comply,” Barfield said. “Small businesses will think that no one will catch them if they don’t charge the fee.”

That would put any retailer that does comply with such a mandate at a distinct competitive disadvantage, according to Barfield.

“People will come into our store and ask, ‘Why are you collecting this fee when the store down the street isn’t’ — and then they will shop down the street,” Barfield said. Not only would that cost the retailer a sale, but it also could create an unfair perception in the mind of the customer, he added. “People will think we’re cheating them, when we’re just complying with the law.”

But the fact that no mechanism currently is in place to collect 911 fees from pre-paid wireless users is costing the public-safety sector nationwide roughly $200 million a year, money that is sorely needed, especially in a down economy, said Jeff Robertson, executive director of the 911 Industry Alliance, who also participated in the panel discussion.

“The time for talking about this is over,” Robertson said. “A point-of-sale model is the best way to go, so let’s get it done. We could debate this for another year, but anything that we come up with, someone will be able to poke holes in it.”

For those retailers that believe this approach to be unfair, Robertson had some simple advice: “If you don’t want to subscribe to this model, don’t sell the [cards].”

http://urgentcomm.com/policy_and_law/news/prepaid-wireless-fees-20090709/

from Urgent Communications

I posted a synopsis of his speech late last week. I just came across this article. The author of the artice is so right! If you ever get the opportunity to hear Gordon Graham speak, do so!


Risk management is a laughing matter
Jun 9, 2009 11:04 AM, By Glenn Bischoff

FORT WORTH, Texas — Who doesn't like a "two-fer?" Whether it's a buy-one-get-one deal at the grocery store or a baseball doubleheader, more generally is viewed as better. Yesterday, at the National Emergency Number Association conference, attendees were treated to a unique two-fer, a keynote address that doubled as a stand-up comedy routine.

Gordon Graham was the speaker. His career is a two-fer: he started his professional life as a California Highway Patrol officer, rising through the ranks to captain before his retirement; later he became a successful attorney and educator. In 30 years of attending keynote addresses — the list includes such entertaining and/or inspiring speakers such as Mike Ditka, Bo Schembechler and Adrian Cronauer (whose exploits inspired the cult-classic movie "Good Morning, Vietnam") — Graham's stands alone. I'm not the only one who thought so. Throughout the day, I overheard similar comments. Indeed, Graham himself is a two-fer — someone who delivers a relevant, on-point message in a completely hilarious fashion.

His topic was risk management, and his message was remarkably simple: nearly every bad outcome is predictable and thus preventable. He used several historical examples to illustrate the point. The one I found most interesting was the most recent. He showed a copy of yesterday's USA Today, which reported that nearly every "serious" regional airline accident over the past 10 years involved at least one pilot who had previously failed a proficiency test. According to Graham, each of these incidents was predictable and preventable. "If your pilot can't pass the test, then maybe he shouldn't fly the plane," he said.

In contrast, Graham then presented US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who landed his airplane in New York City's Hudson River in January after several birds flew into the craft's engines, rending them inoperable. Sullenberger is a shining example of one of Graham's seven rules of risk management: training has to be constant and rigorous. "Every day needs to be a training day," Graham said.

He spoke of something that Sullenberger said in an interview shortly after his heroic actions saved the lives of everyone aboard Flight 1549. Sullenberger said that he tried, throughout his flying career, to make small deposits each day into his memory bank, knowing that one day he would "have to make a massive withdrawal," Graham said. It was a sound strategy, Graham said, because doing so enabled him to make instantaneous, life-and-death decisions on that fateful day. It's a lesson especially adaptable to the public-safety sector, whose personnel make such decisions on a daily basis.

"You will run into the unthinkable event someday, and you will have to make instantaneous decisions," Graham said. "Whether you are prepared to do so is up to you."

His other rules of risk management included the following:


Organizations must strive for continuous improvement in their personnel;
Organizations must hire quality people — "If you hire stupid people, they are not going to get better over time," Graham said;
An organization's supervisors must spot problems before they become tragedies;
An organization and its members must have a healthy respect for the dangers and risks they face;
An organization must establish performance metrics for its personnel and hold them accountable — "Rules without enforcement are just nice words," Graham said;
An organization and its personnel must be able and willing to learn from their mistakes.

Concerning the final rule, Graham told the story of a woman he encountered while a member of the California Highway Patrol. The woman lived near Malibu, Calif. On three separate occasions, each roughly a decade apart, wildfire destroyed the woman's home, which she promptly rebuilt on the same spot each time.

During the most recent wildfire, Graham said he received numerous e-mails from people who had attended one of his lectures at some point over the years and were now concerned that he might be in danger. The e-mails, which came from all over the country, were so numerous that Graham eventually was forced to craft a blanket response, which he wrote firm in the knowledge that "California catches on fire every year." It read, "Risk management is not a class I teach; it's a way of life. Do you really think I'd build my [freaking] house in the [freaking] woods?" Predictable and preventable.

If you ever have a chance to take in one of Graham's lectures, I urge you to do so. I guarantee you will learn something — and will be thoroughly entertained in the process.

National certification program for 911 telecommunicators is long overdue

Great article! Thank you, Glenn, for sharing our story. Thank you, Craig Whittington for introducing us to Glenn. You, dear Craig, are going to be an absolutely fantastic NENA president especially if you accomplish all you've set out to do. It's clear your family loves you, and your NENA family loves you. God bless you with guidance and strength through your journey as president. And again, thank you for helping us.

Before you all read the article there are some very minor errors regarding Denise's call. (Admittedly it is a complicated story). She did get a hold of her abductor's cell phone and kept the call taker on the line or 7 minutes giving as much information as she could. That call was handled very professionally and our hats off to the call taker who had to take that call. It must have been an emotionally difficult call. God bless you. The call that was not aired went to a different comm center. The eyewitness had that particular call taker on the line for 9 minutes giving cross streets. That call taker in a neighboring county failed to enter the information immediately and they failed to dispatch a car and worse never let the neighboring agencies know about the call. It's very glaring when listening to the 9-1-1 calls how different the counties are as far as standards. And Mr Graham is absolutely correct that supervisors need to be held accountable.

In any case, thank you for telling our story. Hopefully the 9-1-1 industry can learn from this debacle and minimize some of these errors by insisting on having our very first line of defense (call takers) become certified and make them live up to a set of standards.

National certification program for 911 telecommunicators is long overdue

Jun 11, 2009 1:59 PM, By Glenn Bischoff


http://urgentcomm.com/policy_and_law/commentary/national-certification-911-telecommunicators-20090611/

FORT WORTH, Texas — In his keynote address earlier this week at the National Emergency Number Association conference, Gordon Graham, the erstwhile motorcycle cop turned litigator/educator, spent much of the hour talking about the value of ongoing rigorous training, performance metrics and accountability as risk-management tactics. He bemoaned the lack of core-competency tests in the 911 emergency communications sector.

"Once you are hired, you will never have to take another test, if you don't want to be promoted. The public deserves better," Graham said.

Regarding those promotions, Graham also spoke of the need for supervisors to do the jobs for which they were hired.

"On every public-safety tragedy, I guarantee that you will find the fingerprints of supervisors who didn't act like a supervisor," he said. "Too many supervisors can't make the transition from buddy to boss. This is a problem lying in wait. You have to promote people who have the guts to supervise."

Graham's message was music to the ears of Craig Whittington, NENA's newly elected president, who spent six years on the organization's educational committee before joining its executive board in 2007. He told me shortly after Graham's speech that he would like to see a national certification program for 911 call-takers and dispatchers.

"You have to be certified to operate a tanning booth, but for 911 — the most critical link in emergency response — there is no certification," Whittington said.

The family and friends of Denise Amber Lee couldn't agree more with that sentiment. The 21-year-old Lee was abducted from her Florida home in January 2008, then brutally raped, killed and buried in a shallow grave by her assailant. She was found two days after her abduction. Lee's family and friends believe she might be alive today had the system — and those who work in it — performed better on the day of her abduction and have created a foundation in her name that champions 911-sector reform.

The first 911 call on that day was reportedly placed by Lee's husband Nathan, who had returned to the family's home in mid-afternoon to discover his wife missing and his two young sons — ages 2 and 6 months at the time — together in the baby's crib. The 911 center that took the call promptly reportedly issued a "be on the lookout" alert, or BOLO, which the family alleges was missed inexplicably by the 911 center in an adjacent county. At some point during the ordeal, the assailant drove through that county with Denise Lee in tow.

Later in the afternoon, a witness reportedly called 911 to report that a child in the back seat of a green Camaro was pounding on the window and screaming hysterically. The "child" was Denise Lee. According to Lee's family, that call was received by the 911 center that allegedly missed the first BOLO. Somehow, her family alleges, no BOLO ever was issued for the call from the eye witness.

Denise Lee's father works in that county as a police detective. He said in an interview on a network television newsmagazine that he was told by one fellow officer that the officer was certain the vehicle drove "right by him" but he had no idea that he should pursue because "he never received the information."

Reportedly, the county's sheriff defended the performance of the 911 center's call-takers and dispatchers that night, but he acknowledged that mistakes were made. Two dispatchers were suspended as a result of this incident.

During the ordeal, Denise Lee somehow managed to get her hands on the assailant's wireless phone without him knowing. She placed a call to 911 and cleverly gave the call-taker vital information, such as the type of car and its location — down to the cross streets — by speaking in a way that made her assailant think she was talking to him. After 7 to 9 minutes — reports vary — the assailant caught on and the call ended. Somehow, the crucial information provided by Denise Lee never made it to officers in the field, according to her family. And, her location couldn't be identified by the 911 system because she used a pre-paid wireless phone to place the call.

Steve Largent, the former congressman from Oklahoma and member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame, spoke during the NENA conference in his current role of CTIA president and CEO. He told of one particular tactic used by his Seattle Seahawks coach Chuck Knox, who was the first to regularly practice the plays the team would use at the end of games when they desperately needed to score. Today, every team does this, but in Largent's playing days, the practice was considered cutting-edge. According to Largent, the tactic was quite effective, because the players knew just what to do at the most stressful, frenetic juncture of the game.

Before telling the Knox story, Largent said something that well could be applied to the Lee tragedy. "You [911 call-takers and dispatchers] are a phone call people hope they never have to make. They count on you. You have to have a game plan in place and know what play to call."

There are few jobs as stressful as that of 911 call-taker/dispatcher. No one outside of that world can empathize with what these dedicated professionals encounter on a daily basis. When journalists make mistakes, publications run corrections. When 911 telecommunicators make mistakes, people die. Undeniably, it's a tough job — which is all the more reason for them to be at the top of their game.

The Denise Amber Lee Foundation is lobbying for the creation of a national certification program for 911 call-takers and dispatchers. "We want to ensure that no other family has to endure the pure hell our family has experienced," Nathan Lee said this week at the NENA conference.

It seems like a reasonable request.

The Denise Amber Lee Foundation in Fort Worth

So far so good. It's been a little difficult because emotions, IMO, are running high. We had the 5K run on Saturday. Mark, Nathan and Amber were all up extremely early on Saturday. And then, of course, we were all up very early Sunday. People, especially moi, get cranky when they are tired. Amber has been a trooper throughout putting up with all the various emotional meltdowns. David Garofalo has the battle of not only dealing with our emotional meltdowns but has the important job of networking. I don't know what we would do without either of them. Dave have his family here too. How wonderful is that? I was hoping to spend more time with his wife and son. I don't really know them as well as I'd like. I want to tell her how wonderful Dave has been to us. He's an important cog in the wheel for so many reasons.

Thank you David and Amber. We miss you, Dave Dignam.

Working the booth can be difficult. Constantly having to repeat the story to educate the people who are not familiar with our story and cause can be emotionally draining but well worth it in the end. Once they understand what we're all about and that we just want to drive change for improvements you can almost see relief on their faces. Most are truly appalled at what happened in the comm center that night. But it seems all understand how it may have happened. If the industry can learn from the mistakes made in Denise's case then...... again, telling our story is worth it. Many are now going to take Denise's story back to their dispatch centers and they are going to ask their dispatchers and call takers "how would you have handled this", "what went wrong", "where did the procedures start to break down" and "what can we do better"?

That's very very cool to us.

All the national industry experts are meeting with our foundation this morning. Many important 9-1-1 experts will be in the meeting. People from NENA (National Emergency Number Association), NAED (National Academies of Emergency Dispatch), 9-1-1 CARES, The E911 Institute and APCO (The Association of Public Safety). There are probably others who I am forgetting.

We'll see what happens. NENA, NAED and 9-1-1 CARES have been especially supportive and continue to encourage us. I feel their genuine support and concern. The others? Eh, I'm not so sure but we'll see.

I couldn't imagine why they wouldn't support our cause. Afterall, it's about public safety not politics.

We have a new mission statement:

"To promote and support public safety through uniform training, standardized protocols, defined measurable outcomes and technological advances in the 9-1-1 system."

We'll see. I won't be in the meeting. I think I was voted out because I talk too much! LOL! That's probably true and I do tend to be emotional.

Tomorrow we meet Michael Cantrell and hopefully the rest of his family. I'm especially looking forward to that. Why? It'll just be so nice to meet someone that REALLY TRULY understands our resolve, drive and determination. Bittersweet. Bitter because if it wasn't for the loss of their little boy and our loss of Denise, we would never even have known each other. sigh. I only hope we can all garner strength from each other.

Nathan's speech is tomorrow.

OH! And Nathan received an award from 911 CARES for all the work he's been doing!! That was pretty darn cool.

Better go. Lots to do. Another busy day. Who knows what it will bring!

Thursday's Murphy Monitor

added edit:

God bless Michael and Ave Cantrell with much love and peace. I can't imagine their pain and suffering. Please, I'm not sure how I feel about prayers sometimes, but if you're a praying person, please pray for this family. If you are not praying person? Please send them as many postive uplifting thoughts as you can. They have a young family to raise. They need your love and support. My heart, which is already broken to pieces, breaks for them. Thank you. I feel this family's pain. I understand innately what this man is saying. He just doesn't want this to happen to another family. Losing a child or any loved one violently and through tragic circumstances is heartbreaking enough. To know they could have been saved is, yes, emotional torture of the worst kind.















Suit filed following child's strangulation death

Family wants standards set for 911 first responders

by Jamie Engle
Staff writer news@csmediatexas.com

In October 2007, 21 month old Matthew Cantrell accidentally strangled himself in a backyard soccer net. Last week, the boy's father, Michael Cantrell, filed a federal lawsuit naming the City of Murphy and the East Texas Medical Center as defendants due to what Cantrell called their "complete failure to try to save a 21 month old boy."

"My goal is to make sure someone who calls 911 receives the proper help, the proper response from the 911 operator," he said. "First responders should help the injured child or person and provide medical care. We're doing this so another family does not have to endure what we're going through."

When Matthew's mother called 911, the suit alleges the 911 operator did not instruct her how to administer CPR, nor did the East Texas Medical Center when she was transferred to them, nor the first responders on the scene, two Murphy police officers, administer first aid.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Cantrell said he felt he had two options: do nothing or do something to help prevent this from happening again. Cantrell said he has never before been involved in a lawsuit and that it was a long process occurring over a long period of time. While researching, he said he found some things disturbing, such as the fact that following nationwide 911 procedures is optional at the state level.

There are two main changes Cantrell is seeking. First, he wants to see that people get the help they need over the phone when they call 911.

Second, Cantrell wants to ensure that first responders, even if they are not EMTs, are going to help an injured person. He plans to begin at the local level, then state and nationwide.

"I'm driven and will make sure that people know and learn the appropriate response to learn and do. I would think that anybody who enters a home and sees an injured child would try to help an injured child, no matter who they are and especially a police officer whose job it is to protect and serve," he said. "We want to get the message out that something has to be done to make sure this doesn't happen to another family. A lot of work has already been done. This is the beginning of being able to make change in a lot of different areas."

One of the first changes Cantrell was able to effect was the recall of the backyard soccer net, recalled by the Consumer Safety Commission in September 2008.

"You think about it, most any job you have to be certified, qualified, trained etc., and it is just about bizarre that such a critical job doesn't require a set of mandatory training and skills and test or evaluation for competency before and someone is given such a critical role that can be the difference between life or death," Cantrell said.

"We're going to be working with the 911 national training system called NENA as part of our calls (sic) to make sure those national standards are known and followed everywhere," he said. "For medical emergency phone calls, operators need to be knowledgeable and follow those protocols."

NENA is the National Emergency Number Association. They are having a conference in Fort Worth in June.

Cantrell is joining with the Denise Amber Lee organization to lobby for change. Despite four different 911 calls, Nathan Lee's wife Denise was abducted in broad daylight then assaulted and murdered. The case was on "20/20" and Nathan has been on "Dr. Phil" and spoken in other cities.

"We've talked multiple times. And he, like me, is very driven to make sure what happened doesn't happen to someone else. We'll meet for the first time face-to-face in Fort Worth at the NENA conference.

"He's dedicated his life to making sure that this doesn't happen to someone else, that 911 call centers are reformed to make sure that, nationwide, when somebody picks up the phone and calls with a medical emergency, or for that matter an abduction or whatever else happens, that things are handled properly to make sure that people receive the proper medical care, proper police care or whatever happens in his situation."

A 911 reform bill in Florida in Lee's wife's name was recently passed. The mission of the Denise Amber Lee organization is, "to raise awareness of 911 call center inefficiencies, promote improvements to 911 call centers, and offer assistance to families of murder victims," according to the organization's Web site.

The site continues "Currently, most states have no kind of standards set for the training of 911 dispatchers. Although Florida is making an effort (a bill for 911 reform was recently passed in Denise's name), it is still considered a voluntary measure to participate in the training standards. We would like to see proper training become mandatory, not voluntary. We'd like to learn from the mistakes made, move forward and fix the inadequacies. 911 is here to save lives, and when it doesn't because of confusion and procedural breakdowns, that is unacceptable.

"We need to restore confidence in the 911 system. That is the most important thing. 911 operators and dispatchers should be praised for doing their job correctly. Not everyone can handle the high stress conditions of the job. God bless all the 911 operators out there who care and are working so hard to do their job and keep us all safe. May God give them the strength and guidance needed to do their job to the best of their ability."

"You can only deal with what's ahead of you, or try to at this point, and make sure it doesn't happen again," Cantrell concluded.

NAED The Denise Amber Lee Foundation in Vegas

what a week!

The night before

It started out on Sunday with Nathan feeling ill. We thought it might be stress. We spent the day in and out of the doctor's office. Thank goodness, his doctor will see him on a Sunday. It turned out he was admitted into the hospital in the wee morning hours Monday (the morning we were flying to Vegas) with appendicitis. He's okay now. He's still weak. It wasn't an auspicious way to start the week. I was an emotional wreck starting out.

The plane

On the plane I sat next to an Iraqi war veteran who had lost his leg in a roadside bombing. He was very instrumental in making me feel better. He was just a young man. I think he said he was 26. His name was Pete. We talked at length (it's a five hour flight) about Post Traumatic Stress. His experiences mirror ours in many ways even though they are different in many ways. We talked of nightmares, flashbacks and anger.

But, you know, what a remarkable young man he was. Here I was trying to give him comfort by allowing him to talk because he says he never talks about it but felt he could talk to me, when he really surprised me. He said "hey, I lost a leg. And, yeah, the worst and scariest was losing my sight even temporarily. But, your son........ Your son lost his wife in the most tragic of ways. And losing a leg pales in comparison".

How remarkable is that? He said he'd pray for Nathan and our family even though it's difficult for him to pray. I told him I'd pray for him even though it was difficult for me to pray. And he said "no. Concentrate on your family". What a gift. I'm crying now thinking of it.

Arriving in Vegas

Well, we finally arrived and I felt..... I don't know how I felt but I felt soothed and better. I was so worried about Nathan. He was being operated on at the time we were arriving in Las Vegas. I can't express how much my maternal instincts were in overdrive. I couldn't stop thinking of losing Denise and having the fear of losing Nathan too. And all it was, was his appendix. I knew I was over reacting but the maternal drive just wouldn't slow down. It's weird to explain.

Well, there we were in Vegas and both Mark and I were wrecks with worry and lack of sleep. Thank goodness for Mike Rossi one of our foundation members that accompanied us. He just took over. We were pretty much penniless going out there because Nathan had the bank roll and of course he wasn't there. Mike just went into overdrive and took over. He was taking care of cabs and taking us to Kinko's and arranging meetings and checking us in and he pretty much was leading us through Monday and Tuesday morning. He took care of all the logistics because we were just wiped out emotionally and physically. I don't think he would have treated his own parents better. I'll never forget all he did for us.

The meeting

Things got better after our meeting with the 9-1-1 industry leaders Tuesday afternoon. What wonderful men. Brilliant men. You could see their brains working on what to do to help prevent what happened from happening again. They listened patiently to our story. They expressed compassion. But mostly (at least for me) they gave us hope. Hope that things will change. They were very sincere. All there had different ideas on how to accomplish this but all agreed that we need to continue to speak up and things need to change.

At the meeting were many fascinating people. The most fascinating, of course, was Dr. Jeff Clawson. No. You've never heard of him but you should! He's the man that started back in 1979 to write all the 9-1-1 protocols we use today. He, along with others, continue to improve them as technology and cultural situations evolve. He was very moved and perhaps a bit appalled by our story. You could see his brain working on better protocols as we were speaking. It was an honor just to be in the same room with him! not to mention being able to share our story. See pic of me with Dr. Clawson.

Scott Freitag, Eric Parry and Alan Fletcher from NAED (National Academies of Emergency Dispatch) were all there offering hope and suggestions of where the 9-1-1 industry is to go with correcting and helping minimize tragedies like ours. Scott Freitag was also moved by our story. He, too, has experienced tragedy in his young life. He has a beautiful family and seemed genuine in his offer to help us. Eric Parry has such a dynamic personality it's hard to pin down where to start. He took us by the hand (almost literally) and guided us through who to meet, what classes to attend, what to listen for...... He also invited us to speak in a couple of sessions.

What truly awesome individuals these men are. See pic of Mark and I with Scott Freitag.

Also in the meeting was the out going president of NENA (National Emergency Number Association) Ron Bonneau and the in coming president Craig Whittington. What can I say about them other than these men are dedicated professionals whose mission in life seems to be continually improve our 9-1-1 industry. This is what they do! How honorable is that?

I was humbled. I had no idea so many people cared so much and so many people are truly dedicated in making our lives so much safer.

I am immersed in this 9-1-1 thing as you all realize by now. This is all I talk about other than my grandbabies who I get to see today:o) I live, eat, drink, breathe this 9-1-1 stuff. To be able to talk to people who are just as immersed in it as I am was truly a gift that I'll forever treasure. Denise, sweetheart, people are listening!

We take 9-1-1 so for granted. We as civilians truly do. We have no clue as to all that goes into making a 9-1-1 call successful. We have no clue of how all the links in the chain need to work together. We have no clue that men and women are continually working behind the scenes (and have been for decades) just so we can be and feel safe.

What I gleaned in this meeting (and remember I was emotional so I could be off) was the medical and fire protocols for 9-1-1 would receive superior grades if you graded them. But the police protocols still need a lot of work. That the police are the most resistant to change and loss of control. The police say it's because the dynamics are so varied. But every man in that room that day agreed that the police could do better. Or that the 9-1-1 industry needs to do better where police are concerned.

After that meeting I felt confident, strong, safe (which I hadn't felt in a long time), and secure in the knowledge that what we're doing as a foundation is right and necessary. I knew we were right in our cause but these men gave me a validation I needed. They gave me hope that our story wasn't falling on deaf ears.

Needless to say they gave me strength and it was a strength that would last me the rest of the week. I had to tell our story at least a couple hundred times. A couple of those times were in front of classes. It was cathartic but it was difficult. It was the men in that room that gave me the strength to do it.

I can't write anymore now. I'm in tears with gratitude and an overwhelming sense of pride in our mission.

But there is more to the story. I have to tell you about the dispatchers we met. And the call center supervisors. And the classes we attended. Peter Bellmio with the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children. The Medicine Hat contingent.... About Nicole and Heidi from the San Diego Sheriff's Department...... God bless those two girls for helping me in the booth for they too gave me strength. And Kevin Willett. Geesh. Without him........... I would never have made it out there.

But I'll have to save all that because I'm emotionally spent.

Much love and peace,

Peggy