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![“When we tried the new technology that came out of FirstNet and applied it to [the Volvo Ocean Race], tracking public safety entities in the venue was great for situational awareness,” said Tom Guthlein, Operations Section Chief for the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency.](https://www.firstnet.gov/sites/default/files/field/image/RI-blog.jpg)
When the town of Newport, Rhode Island hosted the 2018 Volvo Ocean Race, it was the only North American stopover out of 12 cities on six continents during this around-the-world sailing event. For 13 days in May, over 100,000 tourists and sailing enthusiasts descended onto Newport’s Race Village in Fort Adams State Park to witness one of the world’s toughest sailings competitions.
Emergency managers are at the center of community preparedness and response should an emergency or disaster strike. As hurricane season is upon us, it is a reminder of the important work of our nation’s emergency managers who put service to their communities first in times of need.
For many years, I’ve been talking to my fellow paramedics and colleagues in EMS about the promise of FirstNet, the nationwide public safety broadband network. There were a lot of “whens” and “ifs” and “we expect” in those discussions.
When the town of Brookfield, Connecticut was hit hard by a tremendous storm with wind speeds over 100 miles per hour, most of the area’s communications infrastructure was damaged and overloaded. For Brookfield Assistant Fire Chief Andrew Ellis the lack of communications threatened his ability to coordinate multiple agencies on scene providing mutual aid.
Remarks by Sue Swenson, FirstNet Chair
Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Program Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meeting, San Diego, CA, June 5, 2018
When Brent Williams, Senior Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Advisor for the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) enrolled in an emergency medical technician (EMT) class in the late 1970s, advances in EMS were taking off. He pursued his growing interest in the field and signed-up for a first-of-its-kind paramedic class offered in Saginaw, MI.
This blog is a repost from the May 2018 issue of IACP’s Police Chief Magazine.
In the fall of 2017, a Pennsylvania police officer suffered a cardiac arrest while pursuing a suspect on foot. According to media accounts, the 44-year-old Allegheny Township officer had been called to a mobile home park where a man was reported to be creating a disturbance. When the officers arrived, the suspect allegedly ran. The officer experienced the heart attack while chasing after the suspect.1
Read more at PoliceChiefMagazine.org.
Harry Markley joined the First Responder Network Authority as law enforcement senior advisor after more than 30 years with the Phoenix Police Department. Markley started his career as patrol officer and was promoted through the ranks to assistant chief of police. In his three decades of service, he touched nearly every part of the department, serving as a narcotics detective, training officer, SWAT team commander, crime lab administrator, precinct commander, and director of the State Police Academy.
The First Responder Network Authority has again received an unmodified audit opinion on its financial statements for Fiscal Year 2017. This marks the fifth consecutive year FirstNet has achieved a clean audit opinion for its financial statements.
During my 31 years with the Phoenix Police Department, we lost 21 officers in the line of duty. Each and every one of those losses was a tragedy.