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A car crushed by a fallen tree surrounded by branches and tree trunks; a Beavercreek Township fire truck leaves the fire station.

On Memorial Day 2019, nearly 55 tornadoes touched down in eight states across the country. Ohio saw some of the worst damage, including an EF3 tornado that tore through Beavercreek Township. The Beavercreek Township Fire Department used FirstNet to assist with damage assessment efforts.

A police SUV with lights on and lit flare sit in a snowstorm at night.

Officers with the Troy Police Department in New York rely on FirstNet for a differentiated emergency communications experience in the city’s densely populated urban setting. FirstNet’s priority and preemption service allows officers to stay connected, make calls, and send and receive information securely without signal delay or disruption.

Hot-air balloon participate on a field glow at third annual FireLake Fireflight Balloon Festival in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

At the 2019 FireLake Fireflight Balloon Festival in Shawnee, Oklahoma, public safety officials from the Citizen Potawatomi Tribe relied on FirstNet-enabled devices for seamless interoperability among the many agencies supporting the festival.

A room full of attendees at the June 2019 3GPP meetings listen and take notes on laptops as a panel of four speakers at the front give a presentation, a police officer holds a FirstNet enabled device

In December 2019, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) held its final quarterly meeting of the year in Sitges, Spain. Dean Prochaska, FirstNet Authority Director of Standards, summarizes the discussion and what the standards body is working toward next.

An aerial view of a Satellite Cell on Light Truck (SatCOLT) sitting in a parking lot.

When disaster strikes or large crowds gather, public safety officials need a broadband network they can rely on to remain connected. FirstNet’s fleet of deployables is an important resource for emergency managers for planned and unplanned events to ensure that connection is available. First Responder Network Authority Senior Public Safety Advisor Timothy Pierce describes the deployables that are available to FirstNet subscribers and how those resources can make a difference for first responders.