The FirstNet Authority staff are excited for this year’s Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials Annual Conference and Expo (APCO 2024) from August 4 to 7 in Orlando, Florida. The agenda has some great sessions for the modern-day telecommunicator, and there’s an entire track devoted to FirstNet.

APCO 2024 is for the dispatchers and call-takers who sit at the nexus of 9-1-1. It is also for the public safety officials they work with every day — law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical services, emergency managers, and government agencies.

While there are many sessions that we are looking forward to attending at APCO 2024, here are some of our favorites.

Breaking boundaries: Functioning outside the comm center

Sunday, August 4, 9-10 a.m.

Gone are the days where 9-1-1 operations could only occur within the four walls of an emergency communications center. Today, 9-1-1 can function wherever FirstNet is. This session will detail the creative ways ECCs are breaking boundaries with technology. We’ll discuss how FirstNet supports mobile command posts, tactical dispatching, telecommunicator emergency response task forces, training, backup centers, and home offices.

Jennifer McIntyre, FirstNet Authority Senior Public Safety Advisor, is leading this session together with Justin Koval, Technical Manager for the Collier County Sheriff's Office; Michele Abbott, Communications and Training Coordinator for the Kansas 911 Coordinating Council; and Andrea Baughn, Statewide Interoperability Coordinator and Director of Training and Outreach for the Indiana Integrated Public Safety Commission.

FirstNet innovation in Kansas

Sunday, August 4, 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Kansas is a pioneer in using technology to enhance emergency communications. The state was an early adopter of Next Generation 9-1-1 and FirstNet. This session explores the Kansas 911 Coordinating Council’s innovative uses of FirstNet. They’ve used public safety’s network to serve as a failover for statewide redundancy, to deploy a mobile command vehicle for training and dispatching, and to connect a new app that gives first responders a common operating picture.

For this session, Jennifer McIntyre is moderating a panel with Michele Abbott, Communications and Training Coordinator for the Kansas 911 Coordinating Council; Dami Bullock, Chief Revenue Officer of RapidDeploy; Ellen Wernicke, 911 Liaison for the Kansas 911 Coordinating Council; and Kyle Hoffman, Member of the Kansas House of Representatives.

Two new frontiers: The cellular space race and maritime response

Monday, August 5, 12-12:30 p.m.

A modern-day space race is kicking into high gear for public safety communications in the form of a new and promising technology: satellite-to-device services. At the same time, public safety’s maritime missions often push the boundaries of current wireless broadband solutions. Learn what these two new frontiers could mean for public safety, what players are saying, and where FirstNet fits in.

FirstNet Authority Senior Public Safety Advisor Doug Harder is leading this session, together with Fred Scalera, Director of the Response Operations Group at AT&T FirstNet; and Mohammed Baig, Lead Market Development Manager for AT&T FirstNet.

Federal collaboration in support of ECC technologies

Tuesday, August 6, 3-4 p.m.

Agencies across the federal government are working together in support of 9-1-1. This panel will discuss these federal efforts, from research to cybersecurity to everyday communications. Discover how federal agencies coordinate internally and collaborate externally to shape 9-1-1 technologies and advance public safety communications.

This session is being led by Kim Coleman Madsen, Senior Manager at the FirstNet Authority. She’s joined by Brian Tegtmeyer, Coordinator of the National 911 Program at the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration; Jeremy Hill, Public Safety Advisor with the Office of Public Safety Communications at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; and Karima Holmes, Branch Chief in the Emergency Communications Division of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Which APCO 2024 sessions are on your list of favorites? What emergency communication topics are most important to you? Will you be at APCO 2024? Let us know so we can meet up. 

To learn more about how FirstNet is helping public safety and the 9-1-1 community to leverage innovative public safety communications, sign up for our 9-1-1 Take newsletter.