First Responders

The imagery and intelligence technology relies on private aircraft, crowdsourcing and even the U.S. Forest Service to provide tactical data to first responders and residents. Bridger recently said it would go public.

The new integration is designed to help police, fire and medical personnel gain more precise location data in emergencies. The deal marks the latest gov tech partnership involving U.K.-based what3words and U.S. firms.

The Series C funding round comes amid other recent and sizable investments in the emergency dispatch and public safety tech space. Carbyne has raised $128 million so far, and has reported a big U.S. revenue jump.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office and Cal Fire will be sharing a new emergency dispatch center to be built by 2024. The $23.5 million center aims to improve communication between the two agencies.

The California project is designed to help disparate public safety agencies share data and improve communications during emergency responses. The move comes amid a broader push to upgrade 911 call center capabilities.

So far, the U.S. tropical storm season has been undramatic, but that could soon change. Many emergency response agencies have upgraded their tech, but they still need better mobile and digital tools to weather storms.

A newly acquired DJI Matrice 30T thermal drone system is set to replace the drone that the department has been using since 2018. The drone will be used in locating missing persons and surveying fires.

The expansion of the platform operator’s Location Discovery Solution comes as pressure builds to provide more precise emergency data for all types of calls. 911inform first used the tool with Panasonic.

The two tech providers will offer dispatchers and first responders precise geolocation data for buildings three stories and taller. The move reflects the growing precision of data in the public safety space.

Lemonade, a digital insurance firm, will offer drivers of connected vehicles an app that can confirm crashes and send data to emergency responders via RapidSOS. The move comes as connected vehicles gain popularity.

The seller of gunshot detection tech had sued VICE Media for defamation after the claim was published in a Chicago case. The suit has been dismissed, but VICE has issued an editor’s note on the story.

Tech exists to more accurately route 911 calls from phones to the correct 911 communications center, but Verizon — one of the three major carriers in the U.S. — has refused to install it in Denver and other regions.

The product, called the Gateway, is designed to bridge the gap between new and old emergency call technology. The joint software launch from the two companies comes amid larger improvements for 911 communications.

The seller of cloud-based software recently rebranded and now says it is dealing with increased demand for its technology. The capital will go toward product development and winning new markets and customers.

As wildfires become more frequent and intense, this project — along with other recent efforts — shows how the gov tech industry is helping to limit damage. Nighttime detection also is becoming a higher priority.

The app, developed by Amazon subsidiary Ring, allows departments to view and share information with users. More than 2,700 departments are using the service around the country as of mid-June 2022.

A $17 million effort to expand smart intersection technology across St. Charles County will give automatic right of way to first responders en route to an emergency. Around 210 of the more than 350 lights have the technology.

According to one estimate, thousands of lives are lost each year due to misrouted 911 calls. Now a large dispatch technology provider has introduced new capabilities to avoid those errors using device GPS.