Briefs: ANSI approves APCO/NENA standard for TERT deployment

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) approved the American National Standard (ANS) to assist public-safety answering points (PSAPs) and governing 911 authorities with the information required for developing, training, equipping and deploying a Telecommunicator Emergency Response Task Force (TERT) team.

The ANS can be downloaded at http://www.apcointl.org/new/commcenter911/APCOstandards.php.

Illinois dispatch implements APCO EMD

The Orland (Ill.) Central Dispatch recently implemented the APCO Institute Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Program. Orland Central Dispatch provides 911 call-taking and dispatching for the cillages of Orland Park, Orland Hills and Romeoville, and the city of Calumet with three full-time staff and an annual call volume of 23,000. The APCO Institute EMD Program, based on EMD Guidecards and software, is a systematic way to manage EMS resources in an organized and effective manner and to provide medical assistance to callers, when needed, until medically trained field response units arrive at the scene.

Canadian FD deploys FDM dispatch system

The Fort St. John Fire Department in North Vancouver, B.C., implemented a new computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system from FDM Software. The department provides dispatch services for the communities of Fort St. John, Charlie Lake, Hudson's Hope and Taylor, in addition to first-responder EMS assistance to B.C. Ambulance throughout the coverage area. The CAD system is a fully configurable, scalable and easy-to-use system for emergency dispatch and multi-jurisdictional responses.

MiMOMax Wireless wins 2009 FCS Business Radio Innovation Award

MiMOMax Wireless received first-place honors in the 2009 Federation of Communication Services (FCS) Radio Business Innovation Award. The award is given to companies that offer products that excel in four key areas: innovation, originality, commercial application and spectral benefits. MiMOMax received the award for its Optimized Protection Variant (OPV), which is specifically applicable to the U.K. power utility — protection market.

Sirit, Axiompass launch vehicle-monitoring technology in Mexico

Sirit Inc., a radio-frequency-identification (RFID) technology provider, and Axiompass, an integrator and supplier of tolling equipment and RFID systems across Mexico, have implemented the first electronic vehicle registration monitoring system in Mexico. Using Sirit's stationary automatic vehicle identification (AVI) monitoring technology, vehicles are tracked as they pass through the Alpuyeca toll plaza in the state of Morelos. Sirit's reader and lane-controller technology read the REPUVE (National Public Vehicle Registry) tag while cameras capture an image of the license plate. The data is then transmitted to a central database, which matches the data to vehicles of interest. This enables the various regional enforcement agencies to recognize identified vehicles on a watch list and take appropriate action.