First Responders

San Antonio firefighters reached a tentative contract agreement last month that would increase firefighter and paramedic pay by 20 percent over three years, which the city plans to achieve by cutting spending elsewhere.

The Jefferson County Communications Center in Colorado has adopted a new platform to improve emergency operations. The new system uses artificial intelligence to improve efficiency.

Crime continues to drop this year in unincorporated Jefferson Parish, part of the greater New Orleans area. The sheriff’s office already fields roughly 30 drones, but is considering adding first responder drones.

Emergency dispatch workers face a flood of calls that don’t require immediate assistance, or don’t even seem serious. Versaterm’s newest product aims to reduce that problem — and the stress on call takers — via software and AI.

Law enforcement agencies across the country are buzzing about drones, but what’s the real impact? Government Technology got an exclusive video look at how one rural sheriff’s department is using UAVs to change the game.

Two tech firms are adding updated radar to unmanned aircraft, hoping to give police and firefighters better eyes in the sky and options for longer automated flights. The deal could help agencies with staffing woes.

New high-resolution images of a wildfire west of Loveland, Colo., that were captured by a stratospheric microballoon could help first responders validate real-time fire data. The project documented the state’s largest wildfire of 2024.

Safety measures in newer vehicles can also make it harder for responders to get to victims after a crash. Firefighters from Mapleton, North Mankato and Minnesota Lake learned how to get people out of a variety of vehicles.

The state’s Flood Inundation Mapping Alert Network website, updated this year, now offers a quicker, more seamless look at data from state and federal agencies. It can now predict in real time when areas will rise to flood stage.

As the U.S. becomes more diverse, emergency call centers are responding to more non-English speakers. Prepared and its competitors are using AI to power more capable, real-time translation.

When the police department in Laredo, Texas, deployed new software, they used it to reduce firearms incidents while also mapping dangerous roads. But other lessons followed — lessons other agencies can use.

Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., CIO Derrick Arias offers his account of triaging the July CrowdStrike/Microsoft event and what his team will take from the experience to apply when — not if — they experience another outage.

As much of communication is handed over to connected devices, the newest product from RapidSOS offers processing for sensor-initiated 911 calls. The company is also focused on firefighting tech.

The Next Generation Fire System, a new AI program from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, can process a fire hose of satellite data to spot fires smaller than a football field. Authorities tested it last month.

The looming release of iOS 18 promises to bring improvements to emergency call handling and dispatching. Nashville, meanwhile, has begun using a new 911 call platform designed to make life more efficient for emergency call takers.

The company, which already serves the federal government, has released a data-based product to other public agencies. The goal is to help officials with flood response, management and recovery operations.

One of North Carolina's largest counties is deploying a new emergency communications system from Hexagon. The exec running the 911 center — now the new president of NENA — details what will happen and what’s at stake.

The National Safety Council reports that 29 children died in hot cars in 2023. Efforts like the Henderson, Nev., Fire Department's Check Your Seats in the Heat campaign teach that these tragedies are preventable.