FCC Seeks To Facilitate Use of Mobile Devices in Emergencies

Federal Communications Commission Chair Julius Genachowski recently announced that his agency plans to develop technical standards for programs that allow the public to send text messages, photos and videos to emergency responders, the National Journal‘s “Tech Daily Dose” reports (Jerome, “Tech Daily Dose,” National Journal, 8/11).

Genachowski unveiled details of FCC’s “Next-Generation 911” plan during the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International Conference on Wednesday (Government Technology, 8/10).

Plan Details

The Next-Gen 911 plan aims to help the public to communicate with emergency responders using their mobile phones.

Some communities already have implemented projects to facilitate wireless communications with emergency responders. FCC wants to accelerate such efforts nationwide and make the process safer by proposing technical standards for wireless communications providers and emergency agencies that launch such projects (“Tech Daily Dose,” National Journal, 8/11).

On Wednesday, FCC released a five-step action plan to implement the Next-Gen 911 plan. The five steps call for FCC to:

• Develop mechanisms that automatically provide location data;
• Enable customers to send photos, videos and texts to public safety answering points;
• Facilitate the development and implementation of technical standards for mobile phone-based emergency communications systems;
• Develop a governance framework for Next-Gen 911 systems; and
• Develop a funding model for the initiative (Government Technology, 8/10).

Next Up

Next month, FCC plans to launch a rulemaking process on the Next-Gen 911 plan and solicit public comment on making the program feasible on a large scale.

The agency said Next-Gen 911 services could be available nationwide within five to 10 years (“Tech Daily Dose,” National Journal, 8/11).

Source: iHealthBeat