To kick off National 9-1-1 Education Month, NENA, with support from Comcast, today released a pair of thirty-second videos highlighting the life-saving services provided by America’s 9-1-1 professionals and the need to modernize our nation’s 9-1-1 system. Both videos are available on NENA’s YouTube Channel and can be downloaded by 9-1-1 public educators for local use from NENA’s 9-1-1 Education Month webpage.
The first video, “Thank You, 9-1-1,” is a salute to 9-1-1 professionals across the country, encouraging public appreciation of these unsung heroes of public safety who answer more than 240 million calls for help each year. The video concludes with a call to action asking viewers to visit thankyou911.org where they can share photos, videos, and stories of how 9-1-1 helped them or their loved ones.
The second video, “Next Generation 9-1-1 Now,” focuses on the need to transition from today’s overwhelmingly voice-centric 9-1-1 service to Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911). NG911 allows callers to send text messages and transmit photos, videos, and other forms of data to 9-1-1, enabling better-informed responses. Further, NG911 provides for improvements in both the locating of wireless 9-1-1 calls and the 9-1-1 center’s ability to withstand cyberattacks and other service disruptions.
“National 9-1-1 Education Month is an opportunity to raise awareness of some of the most pressing issues in the public safety community,” said NENA CEO Brian Fontes. “During this fiftieth-anniversary year of 9-1-1 in America, this is the perfect time to remind the public about the life-saving service provided by our nation’s 9-1-1 call takers and to take the steps necessary to ensure 9-1-1’s ability to help for the next five decades and beyond.”