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Members of the FirstNet Authority and the Public Safety Advisory Committee sit at table with slides projected behind; “December 2019 PSAC Meeting”

FirstNet Authority Board, PSAC Executive Committee, Usher in New Era for the PSAC

March 27, 2020
By Kenzie Capece, Senior Public Safety Advisor, FirstNet Authority

Expansion of Executive Committee, Formation of Operational Users Working Group Highlight Changes to PSAC Charter

Since its inception in 2013, the FirstNet Authority’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) has been a powerful voice in support of the needs of first responders on the nationwide public safety broadband network. The development of the FirstNet Authority Roadmap in 2019 would not have been possible without the PSAC, and we remain grateful for their valuable insights to our Public Safety Advocacy team (PSA) engagement strategy and willingness to provide operational and technical feedback on the Roadmap domains and other network topics. We’re continually seeking additional ways to capitalize on the reach and expertise of the associations that comprise the PSAC, particularly as adoption of the FirstNet network grows. 

To that end, PSAC Chairman Todd Early and the PSAC Executive Committee coordinated with PSA leadership on ways to improve the PSAC’s operations to best support the FirstNet network and the first responder community. The following updates to the PSAC Charter were unanimously approved by the FirstNet Authority Board on March 19, 2020:

  • Adding the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) to the PSAC membership. Thank you to our Senior EMS Advisors and PSAC members who work in EMS for highlighting the importance of emergency room physicians, nurses, and administrators to successful patient care, treatment, and transport.  
  • Increasing the PSAC Executive Committee from 5 to 7 members. This will add perspectives to PSAC leadership and allow for more flexibility and input by more PSAC associations at the Executive Committee level.
  • Creating an Operational Users Working Group. Much like the PSAC’s Tribal Working Group, this Operational User Working Group will empower the PSAC to draw on the membership of PSAC associations that are utilizing the FirstNet network in their operations and collect actionable feedback from users. 

I would like to thank the PSAC Executive Committee for their careful consideration of these updates to the PSAC operations, and the FirstNet Authority Board for their unanimous support in approving them. The FirstNet Authority leadership looks forward to continuing to work with the PSAC in the coming year on implementation.

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