GIS is a “black box” topic for most 9-1-1 professionals. This presentation will be designed to show how GIS becomes mission critical in NG9-1-1 and introduces some vocabulary to the 9-1-1 professional that they can use when communicating with the GIS partners. Attendees with come away with a basic introduction to how GIS is impact to the PSA/ECC.

Over the course of a 27-year career with stops at every position along the way, Kris Inman became the first internally hired director in the history of Springfield-Greene County 9-1-1. There were lessons aplenty along the path, many of which went unheeded as they presented themselves. In this session, we’ll explore the journey and talk about where you are on your path — and how Kris’ experiences can inform your own climb up the organizational ladder.

How do humans learn? Think back to your years in school, did you learn the same way that your best friend did? Did you learn more for a certain class because it was more hands-on? Well, the same thing goes for us learning as adults! During this one-hour session, we will review the main adult learning styles as well as provide tips to assist in teaching to those styles!

Every day dispatchers may be tempted to participate in the “Gotcha” game where field responders and dispatchers alike try to point out the errors of others. If not handled correctly, being drawn into the Gotcha game of blame can leave all of us as losers…especially the citizens who are depending upon us.

It’s the attack of the Millennials! For years we’ve heard that millennials are self-entitled, lazy, special snowflakes who expect to receive an award at every turn. Well, that’s not entirely true. Within this industry, there are some very hard-working and influential young professionals. Join me as we take a look at what it means to be a Young Professional, meet some amazing people have accomplished in great things in this profession as a young professional and discuss how you can develop the young professionals in your center!

With over 20 years of experience in supervisor and management positions, Steve Hoskins has learned some traits and skills to help people become better supervisors. He will share from personal experience things he handled well and situations where he struggled as a supervisor. He will provide some specific information on how you can become a GREAT supervisor.

This presentation will review the key changes in data preparedness and data workflows that NG9-1-1 will require from GIS to support long term success with NG9-1-1.

For example: are you ready to meet the NG9-1-1 requirement that, once an anomaly is identified in the GIS data, we have 3-days to correct that data and get it back into the ESInet? We’ll learn what it really means to have a 3-business day turnaround and how to decrease the impact this requirement might have on daily workflows.

Effective change management requires a framework for consideration and action. In this presentation, we’ll learn how to successfully manage change using the A.D.K.A.R. (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement) methodology.

The A.D.K.A.R. framework offers a way to prepare people for the changes required by, for example, the 3-day turnaround requirement, or by NG9-1-1 implementation and GIS management generally. While change can be difficult, we have the ability to set ourselves up for success by acknowledging change is inevitable and properly preparing for it.

Learning Objective I: Understanding the key changes in data preparedness and data workflows that NG9-1-1 will require from GIS to support long term success with NG9-1-1.

Learning Objective II: Introduce “A.D.K.A.R“ (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement) change management methodology (developed by Jeff Hiatt of Prosci).

Case example: Focus on the impacts of the 3-business-day turnaround deadline for GIS and NG9-1-1 processes. 

Our experiences shape who we are, and our race, ethnicity, gender, height, weight, sexual orientation, age, place of birth, and other factors impact the lens with which we view the world. This means – we all have our own biases. Today, we will strive to recognize and acknowledge our biases so we can limit them when making decisions, communicating with others, or just interacting with the world. We also wish to recognize the negative effects of bias within our organization and finally, we will outline strategies for confronting bias in the workplace.

Creating (or modifying) a Quality Assurance program can be a crucial step towards improving performance and overall service towards a community. This lesson is designed to help guide an agency towards creating an efficient program that presents measurable standards and attainable goals.

We usually think about customer service in terms of how quickly we get served at a restaurant or whether a store clerk gives us a hard time when we try to return a piece of clothing that doesn’t fit. But what does customer service have to do with public safety communications? After all, 9-1-1 is a monopoly. It’s true that citizens typically don’t have a choice when it comes to public safety services. They cannot call another law enforcement agency, ambulance service or fire department if they’re dissatisfied with local service. But what they can do is call the local governing body and the media, form opposition groups, or refuse a bond to fund a new PSAP or a new radio or CAD system. So, customer service is essential for effective public safety communications and to your agency.

Cyberattacks and threats are increasing everyday, and they are continuing to target emergency services. This session will provide a brief history on major cyberattacks, how to spot a malicious attack, simple tools and practices for protecting emergency services. This session will also provide a discussion on cyber insurance and liability, as well as federal funding opportunities to improve emergency services.

Introduction to Cybersecurity, types of threats and how they can impact the ECC and NG-911

“Have you ever talked to that person that won’t stop screaming and yelling? The person that interrupts every time you start to ask a question or wants to tell you how to do your job.
How do you handle these callers? Let’s discuss the 15 fundamental laws of de-escalation. You will learn the ways to bring that person back to a level mindset of thinking.”

DHS Cyber Security programs which coordinate cyber preparedness, risk mitigation and incident response.

Over the last year, we’ve been experiencing varying degrees of social unrest, some even targeting police stations, and other public safety facilities, including Communications Centers. If you’ve never prepared for an assault on your center, you should add it to your Emergency Operations Plan. We will discuss the importance of personal and professional awareness and readiness, including situational awareness. The overall safety and security of your center is critical during these difficult and challenging times. It’s important to understand risk avoidance and risk reduction for those at work and/or those coming or leaving work who could be unintentionally placing themselves in a dangerous situation. It’s time to prepare for these events both personally and professionally.

Course describes why first responders become first responders, continue the career and how they compile, deal with (or not) stress, indicators of onset of PTSD, stigma in our professions, overcoming the stigma and dealing with ongoing aspects. Lively presentation using humor to illustrate points and identify issues that first responders (monster hunters) deal with often.

An introduction to the hows and whys behind the Missouri-adopted NENA NG9-1-1 data model. What are unique IDs and why are they needed? How are user and change dates used and why are they needed? How do you deal with 9-1-1 applications that use GIS data that won’t yet accept the new data model? What parts of the data model influence geospatial routing?

Showalter & Company asks you to consider the question of who will be leading your organization in five or ten years? With so many people reaching retirement age, someone will need to step up and assume a leadership role and offer new ideas and creative strategies. Why not you? As many agencies continue to experience a high turnover of personnel, the need for new leadership, ideas and strategies continues to intensify. The old adage of, “I don’t have a title, so I can’t lead” has been completely debunked. We passionately believe that everyone within your organization is able to provide some type of leadership, from the newest employee to the most senior. Whether its leading through attitude, interpersonal relations, or commitment to the mission, leadership is critical to your success. With four decades of real public safety experience in various leadership roles, we have seen what unsuccessful leaders can do to a team, and we have also learned what characteristics make a great leader.

Manager Steve Hoskins provides a humorous interpretation of the “characters” from the beloved movie The Wizard of Oz and those “characters” that might be working for us. He will present strategies on how to manage these various personalities and how they have to be approached differently to have a positive outcome.

You have a missing and/or endangered person and need to get the information out as quickly as possible? We will discuss all of the statewide alerts that are available to law enforcement agencies in Missouri, as well as some resources that are available, review the criteria for each alert, how to initiate, update, and cancel the alert. 

Next Generation 9-1-1 advancements have increased and the complexity of these advancements is on the rise. Let’s take a step back and simplify the transition to NG9-1-1. This session provides simplified terms and examples of how agencies both large and small are transitioning to the new world of Next Generation 9-1-1.

Deemed a game changer for the 9-1-1 profession, the arrival of Incident Related Imagery (IRI) in the PSAP/ECC in the form of still images, pre-recorded video, and streaming media is expected to permanently alter the landscape of the nation’s many emergency communications centers. This session provides an overview of graduate level research conducted in 2015/2016 and findings published in a Master’s Thesis in 2017, with an emphasis on preparedness, stress mitigation, and hiring & retention in a changing 9-1-1 workplace.

NG9-1-1 is a Tool to Make 9-1-1 Response Better…and the 9-1-1 Telecommunicators Job Easier! The Vision is an evolved, fully-functional, Next Generation 9-1-1 system that is accessible anytime, anywhere, from any device. During this session we will consider what NG9-1-1 is, why we need it and the purpose that will serve. NG9-1-1 is no longer a
Vision. It is a Reality!

Call-taking training lays the foundation for professional growth and culture at any 911 center, as new employees are exposed to all kinds of new information. Retaining new knowledge while also taking live 911 calls can lead to stress for both the trainee and trainer. This class discusses the problem-posing educational philosophy and five approaches that for trainers to practice that will help their trainee retain knowledge more efficiently, encourage critical thinking and build positive relationships between new employees, trainers and peers within the 911 center.

Walk away with the tools you need to shape your future life into one you can love. We will address the roots of toxicity in your center and what you can do to turn things around. Fun, interactive, and insightful, this workshop will equip and encourage you to experience life powerfully.

Dispatchers are at the center of communicating emergency information between the NWS and emergency response officials. This advanced course goes quickly beyond NWS products to form effective two-way situational awareness. Discussion will center on communication challenges magnified during hazardous weather operations in order to promote efficient protocols that maximize understanding while minimizing precious time. Further, types of severe storms that impact Missouri will be reviewed in an abbreviated storm spotter class that highlights radar and cloud features along with critical storm reports. More importantly, these activities provide critical intelligence to the public that allows them to make life saving decisions.

“Understanding NG9-1-1 Basics” is a session for non-technical personnel in understandable terms. The course will provide an overview of the roadmap for 9-1-1, from basic 9-1-1, Enhanced 9-1-1, and introduce the migration to NG9-1-1 architecture, core functions and deliverables of NG9-1-1 to the end user. Comparison of “What, Becomes What” from current E9-1-1 to NG9-1-1. Included will be case studies of past deployments, challenges, and successes. Attendees can engage with their questions and provide their own experiences for the group. Included will be discussions of next-steps, and what a state or regional efforts need to do next.

“

In this session we will discuss what are hazardous materials under Federal and State law. When does a release of them need to be reported to the Department of Natural Resources and what tools can they bring to assist with a release.

Enneagram personality test got its name from the Greek word, ennea, which means the number nine. There are nine different personality types in total. During this session, we will discover what an enneagram can tell us and discuss how the number may determine ways we can work in harmony. If we can find the numbers that make up our team, we might be able to be just that much more effective and even happy!

Think you’ve heard it all?! Maybe not. During this session we will discuss a variety of those unusual calls. Questions to ask to get critical information you’ll need and what you should tell them!

“Today almost 5,000 9-1-1 centers have the ability to receive real-time information from connected devices, buildings and medical databases. With valuable information such as location and additional emergency data automatically delivered to their screens, dispatchers and field responders are empowered with unprecedented situational awareness and have the opportunity to provide an expedited, data-driven, and intelligent emergency response.

This session will share how public safety leaders across the country are utilizing life-saving data from sources such as Apple, Google, Uber, MedicAlert, SiriusXM Connected Vehicle, and more to enhance emergency response and allocate resources more effectively. 9-1-1 professionals will leave with a clearer understanding of how to receive, train for and utilize this life-saving data. NG911 is no longer the next generation, it is now!”