As part of a larger crisis response project, Google Maps has today launched a Public Alerts Web page, showing the locations of weather, earthquakes, floods and other location-specific incidents. For example, today’s map shows flooding in northern Indiana and severe thunderstorm warning in Louisiana. In a blog posting, Public Alerts engineer Steve Hakusa says, “We’re learning as we go.” He does not say how quickly information from various federal government sources will be posted on the maps. A question-and-answer page says Google will expand the range of alert sources over time, including state and private sources. Google already provides a Common Alerting Protocol-based service to which local public safety agencies can subscribe, and transmit emergency or urgent information. View the Public Alerts map page.

Full Story at Dispatch Magazine

posted January 25, 2012 at 2:12 pm

______________________________________________________________________________

AgBeat.com Article written by Tara Steele

“Now live, users who search for directions or a company in an area under any sort of watch or warning, an alert will appear on the left side of the screen above all results, noted with the orange epicenter symbol that is very easy to spot, offering “more information” with one click.

Google’s alert system links to whichever source is issuing the warning so that affected areas are shown alongside what precautions you should take. So far, Google offers warnings from the National Weather Service, US Geological Survey and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is likely more services will be added over time.”

Full Story @Agbeat.com

  The 9th Annual 9-1-1 Honors Awards Ceremony where heroes and leaders in the 9-1-1 field will be honored on Tuesday,March 27, 2012.  The Co-Chairs of the Congressional NG9-1-1 Caucus are invited to present the awards.

Full Story

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 8, 2012 —     /PRNewswire/ — Citizens who call 9-1-1 expect prompt assistance. Most get it, but for those unable to talk during an emergency call – either to preserve their own safety or because they’ve become unconscious or are deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired – may find help harder to get. That’s because the technology powering many 9-1-1 centers across the country is sorely outdated.

Also Link to Grant Application information!Full Story

  Today’s 911 systems are built, operated and maintained locally, usually by counties, but sometimes by municipalities and states. Only recently has there been any federal involvement in 911 matters, and there has never been any interconnection among 911 systems to allow transferring of calls, etc.

Most within the 911 community have realized that today’s 911 systems need a gigantic advance in order to continue efficiently handling today’s level of traffic, and to handle tomorrow’s new requirements: handling video, photos and text, and the ability to transfer 911 calls among comm centers.

This project of improvement has become known as Next Generation 9-1-1, or NG911. The concept involves many layers and topics:

• standardizing the underlying technology of the nation’s separate 911 systems, most likely using IPtechnology and Internet-based communication links
• creating more centralized databasesof information to handle calls
• interconnectingPSAPs to allow unlimited transfers of calls, distribution of overflow 911 calls, to other centers, and other call-handling features
• allowing the 911 system to accept and handle advancedinformation from citizens, including video, photos, text messages, etc.
• interconnecting with private services, such as telematics providers, to handle automatic crash notification (ACN) and other similar data.
• adding advanced features to the 911 system, such as automatic routing for languages, mapping, medical info storage, etc.

Read More, also there is a great diagram of a community model, Thanks 991 Dispatch!!

  Next Generation 9-1-1 (abbreviated NG9-1-1) refers to an initiative aimed at updating the 9-1-1 service infrastructure in the United States and Canada to improve public emergency communications services in a wireless mobile society. In addition to calling 9-1-1 from a phone, it intends to enable the public to transmit text, images, video and data to the 9-1-1 center (referred to as a Public Safety Answering Point, or PSAP). The initiative also envisions additional types of emergency communications and data transfer.^[1] This NG9-1-1 infrastructure is intended to replace the current services over time. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) first identified the need for NG9-1-1 in 2000, and started development actions in 2003, and is nearing full definition and standards for NG9-1-1.^[2] Since 2006, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has been leading their NG9-1-1 Initiative, a research and development project aimed at advancing NG9-1-1.^[3]

^{Full Wiki Entry}

Enhanced 911, E-911 or E911 in North America is one example of the modern evolution of telecommunications based system meant as an easy way to link people experiencing an emergency with the public resources that can help. The dial-three-digits concept first originated in the United Kingdom in 1937. It has spread to continents and countries across the globe. Today other easy dial codes including the 112 that was adopted by the European Union in 1991 and others like it have been deployed to provide free-of-charge calling to those who need help during emergencies. The Emergency telephone number article contains comprehensive information regarding other emergency dialing codes for countries outside North America.

Wiki Entry

Full Story