Virginia Chapter
National Emergency Number Association
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
OBITUARY
Donald Lee
Scott of
A memorial service to honor and
remember the life of Don Scott will be held 7:00 PM Tuesday at the
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,
Officer Elections – Hershel Kreis (
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
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
Thank you for your support.
Obituary
– Richmond Times Dispatch
In The News
Iowa
9-1-1
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
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
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
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resources for its members, other 9-1-1 professionals, and the general public
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Last Updated November 9, 2009