Virginia Chapter

National Emergency Number Association

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In Memoriam

 

Donald Lee Scott, E911 Director and Emergency Coordinator for Lee County, passed away suddenly Saturday afternoon, November 7, 2009 at his home in Pennington Gap.  Don was very active in the Southwest Virginia 9-1-1 Users Group and the RPAC-I.  He was an active member in NENA and APCO since he began his duties as 9-1-1 Director for Lee County.  Don worked very hard in developing the wireline 9-1-1 program for Lee County and was always wanting to learn more in order to bring the best system possible to Lee County. As Don would say  "Virginia begins in Lee County, but it's a long way to Richmond".  Despite the distance, Don worked extremely hard in developing the 9-1-1 system for Lee County.  This was evident by his support and attendance to the Virginia 9-1-1 conferences and the TENA conferences in addition to calling upon his peers in the 9-1-1 community in Southwest Virginia.  Our 9-1-1 family has lost a dear friend, comrade, and supporter.  Please remember Lee County and Don's family in this very difficult time.

 

OBITUARY

Donald Lee Scott of Pennington Gap, Va. was born in the Monarch Community, Rt. 1 Saint Charles, Va. on Friday, July 23, 1948 and passed away suddenly Saturday afternoon at his home. He was preceded in death by his father, Floyd Scott. Don served in the US Army and was a Vietnam Veteran.  He was a member of the United Methodist Church in St. Charles, Va. He was a Member of the UMWof A and was employed by Westmoreland Coal Co. for 25 years, Quebecor Printing for 8 years and for the past 6 years was employed as E911 Director and Emergency Coordinator for Lee County.  Don was a volunteer fire fighter of Pennington Gap and Lee County rescue squad for over 35 years. Don is survived by his wife Yetta Kirk Scott of the home. Three sons, Christopher Scott of Pennington Gap, Va. Patrick Scott of Pennington Gap, Va. and Devin Scott of the home. One daughter, Rebecca Hope Scott Sweeney of Capron, Va. Three grandchildren, Daniel, Amber and Whitney Sweeney of Dot, Va. His mother, Vern Scott of Monarch, Va. Two sisters, Faye Mayes of St. Charles, Va. Rebecca Hale and husband Dick of Indianapolis, Ind. One brother, Kenneth Scott and wife Beverly of Kingsport, Tn. Special niece Kelle Newman and husband Chris of Jonesville, Va. Several nieces, nephews, extended family and friends and co-workers. Condolences and memorial contributions for the college fund for his son, Devin may be made to the Province Funeral Home, 425 E. Morgan Ave. Pennington Gap, Va. 24277

A memorial service to honor and remember the life of Don Scott will be held 7:00 PM Tuesday at the United Methodist Church in St.Charles.  Visitation will begin at the church at 5:00 PM. Burial will be private.

Condolences can be sent to the family by e-mail to provincefuneralhome@earthlink.net

 

Announcements

 

Fall Conference - The 2009 Virginia APCO/NENA/Interoperability Conference and Exposition drew over 540 attendees to the Hotel Roanoke October 27-30 as the Virginia Chapters of APCO and NENA and the State Interoperability Executive Committee joined together to package an outstanding package of educational seminars, workshops, equipment displays, and vendor expositions focusing on public safety communications and interoperability.  Themed “One Commonwealth – One Voice”, the conference brought together individuals from multiple disciplines and numerous agencies; federal, state, and local governments; and over 60 vendors for networking and education geared to build on the Commonwealth’s leadership in 9-1-1, interoperability, and public safety communications.

 

The Virginia Chapter of APCO celebrated its 50th anniversary during the Conference.  APCO International President Richard Mirgon and Second Vice President Terry Hall attended the Conference. 

 

The Conference was dedicated to the memory of NENA’s Virginia Chapter Past President George Kain Thomas (1964-2009) recognizing his honor and spirit to the field of 9-1-1 and public safety communications.

 

The 2010 conference is tentatively scheduled for November 2-5, 2010.  A special thanks to Bill Agee and Terry Hall who co-chaired this year’s conference, and to the many individuals and organizations who contributed to make the event a huge success.

 

Presentations from the conference (if provided by the presenter) are available for viewing and/or download on the Chapter Conferences page of the Virginia Chapter of APCO.

 

Save the Dates – The 2010 Virginia APCO-NENA Spring Conference will be held at the Sheraton Oceanfront, Virginia Beach, VA., May 19-21, 2010.  Pre-Conference workshops are scheduled on May 19, with conference presentations on May 20 and meetings on May 21.  A Call for Presentations is now active; contact Buster Brown.  The conference is coordinated by the Virginia NENA Chapter.

 

Officer Elections – Hershel Kreis (James City County) was installed as President and Buster Brown (Danville) as First Vice President for the 2009-2010 year.  Allan Weese was elected to the position of Second Vice President.  Susan Rorrer was reelected to the office of Secretary and Chris Knights to the office of Treasurer.  Denise Johnson (Prince George County) will serve on the Executive Board as Immediate Past President.  For more details, visit the Officers and Committees page.

 

Chapter Listserv – A new Chapter Listserv is now active.  All members with valid e-mail addresses were subscribed upon activation.  For information on the VA-NENA listserv, visit Listserv.

 

 

 

 

It is with deep sorrow that we inform the chapter of the death of our dear friend and Past President George Thomas, Operations Support Manager of Chesterfield Emergency Communications.  Please keep his family and his colleagues in your prayers.

 

George Kain Thomas, 44, of Henrico, passed away Saturday, October 10, 2009. He is survived by his loving wife of 19 years, Sheri S. Thomas; his two sons, Kain H. and Seth C. Thomas, who will greatly miss their dad and best friend; his adored parents, George F. and Maureen J. Thomas, of Henrico; his three sisters, Vicki Miller and husband, Chuck, of Crozet, Cindy Greer and husband, Wayne, of Glen Allen, and Nancy Jernigan and husband, Steve, of Rockville; in-laws, Arnold E. and Mary E. Smith, of Henrico; and numerous nieces and nephews who will greatly miss their "Bubba." George was a graduate of J.R. Tucker High School and James Madison University. He was a past-employee of Henrico County 911 Operations and was presently an Operations Support Manager for Chesterfield County, and a member of Cambridge Baptist Church. George was an avid Redskins fan, who thought everyday was a blessing. Funeral services were held Tuesday, October 13, at Monument Heights Baptist Church, 5716 Monument Avenue.

 

 

Thomas Children Educational Fund

George's family has requested that any donations be made to the children's educational fund.  If you are interested in donating to the Thomas children education fund, please make checks out to Kain and Seth Thomas and in the memo filed put "Educational Fund".  Mail the donations directly to:

Monument Heights Day School
ATTN: Lynn Cox
5716 Monument Ave.
Richmond, Va. 23226


Thank you for your support.

 

Obituary – Richmond Times Dispatch

 

 

 

In The News

 

Iowa 9-1-1 Call Center First in Nation to Successfully Trial 9-1-1 Text Messaging

 

Black Hawk County First 9-1-1 Call Center to Participate in Landmark Effort Enabling Speech and Hearing Impaired Citizens to Communicate Directly With 9-1-1 for Help; Service to go live this July

 

Waterloo, IOWA --- The Black Hawk County Iowa 9-1-1 Service Board today announced that the Black Hawk Consolidated Public Safety Communications Center has become the first 9-1-1 Call Center in the country to successfully receive text messages sent directly to 9-1-1. This groundbreaking effort allows those with speech and hearing impairments to use text messaging to communicate directly with a 9-1-1 operator in an emergency. A broad team of communications companies including i wireless, Intrado Inc., Positron Public Safety and RACOM Corporation were involved in this effort.

 

The organizations worked collaboratively to support the public safety needs of the nation’s 31 million citizens with speech and hearing impairments who rely upon text messaging as a primary means of communications. Currently they must communicate with 9-1-1 operators using a relay center or a specialized communications device.

 

"The successful testing of text messaging to 9-1-1 from a wireless telephone is a tremendous emergency services advancement for individuals who have sensory disabilities," said Richard Ray, chair of the National Emergency Number Association's (NENA) Accessibility Committee. “I urge public safety agencies to accelerate the deployment of this technology and to encourage, support and celebrate efforts such as this."

 

“Increasingly text is becoming the way people communicate and public safety must be able to support 9-1-1 text messaging,” said Chief Thomas Jennings, chairman, Black Hawk 9-1-1 Board. “We are excited to have the opportunity to participate on a solution to enable 9-1-1 texting for the Speech and Hearing impaired community as well as set the stage for adoption by the larger texting population.”

 

“The state of Iowa has a long history of pioneering advancements in 9-1-1 technology as a way to enhance the safety of all of our citizens,” said David Miller, administrator, Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division. “We are proud to be part of this initiative to assist the speech and hearing impaired.”

 

The new enhancement to 9-1-1 utilizes Short Message Service (SMS) to establish a text conversation directly between the ‘caller’ and the 9-1-1 operator.  While SMS was not initially developed for use in public safety it has gained widespread acceptance by the Speech and Hearing Impaired Community and is becoming an increasingly popular form of communication. CTIA - the Wireless Association, a wireless industry organization, estimates that the number of SMS text messages exceeded one trillion in 2008. As part of this program techniques have been identified that will improve the overall speed and reliability of 9-1-1 SMS to make it even better for public safety communications. 

 

“This effort was driven by our desire to support the public safety needs of the speech and hearing impaired,” said George Heinrichs, Intrado president. “This breakthrough will not only enhance their safety but the safety of others who find themselves in special circumstances where texting is the best available means to contact 9-1-1.”

 

“We are excited to be a part of this landmark project to enable our deaf and hard of hearing subscribers to text message to 9-1-1,” said Michael Haskins, i wireless chief executive officer and chief operating officer. “i wireless has a strong commitment to public safety and to bringing innovative services to our customers, and this pioneering project creates a new method for requesting emergency services. We are proud to be the first wireless carrier to provide this capability.”

 

“The ability to reach the 9-1-1 center by text message will undoubtedly benefit millions of Americans, especially those who are members of the Speech and Hearing Impaired Community who rely on text messaging as their sole form of mobile communication,” said Brian Fontes, chief executive officer, NENA. “Today’s announcement demonstrates what can be achieved through commitment and dedication to improving public safety and helping those who rely on 9-1-1 for help.”

 

The trial solution in Black Hawk County is in restricted test mode with plans to go live in early July of 2009. Black Hawk County citizens will be notified when the service is available. To find out when this service will be available in your area please contact your wireless carrier. It’s important to note that a voice call remains the best way to contact 9-1-1. Texting to 9-1-1 should be limited to use in situations where a voice call is not possible.

 

 

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Welcome to the Virginia Chapter’s website.  The Executive Board has developed this site to provide key information and resources for its members, other 9-1-1 professionals, and the general public served by Virginia’s outstanding 9-1-1 system and the personnel in the jurisdictional public safety answering points (PSAP’s) throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.  We welcome your feedback and suggestions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Last Updated November 9, 2009

 

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