9-1-1 Legislation

Communications Act of 1934: 

• Created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - i. e. the guys who control what you can and can't say on the radio. Which explains why Eminem hates them.

Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999: 

• Amended the Communications Act of 1934
• Officially established 9-1-1 as a nationwide emergency number
• Allowed cell phone carriers to release location information to PSAPs
• Required that all phones be able to access 9-1-1, whether listed (contracted for service) or not

Kari's Law (2018):

In 2013, Kari Hunt Dunn and her daughter were staying in a quiet Texas motel room when Kari's estranged husband broke in and attacked her. Kari's daughter attempted to dial 9-1-1, but the landline service required its users to dial "9" before making external calls, which the nine-year-old did not understand. Kari did not survive the attack.

For five years after her death, Kari's father Hank Hunt fought to make sure nothing like this would ever happen again. On February 16, 2018, "Kari's Law" was passed federally, requiring all phone service companies to ensure that:

• 9-1-1 is accessible on all serviceable phones, without the need to dial out
• Companies cannot withhold or redirect calls made to 9-1-1 through the cloud

 

RAY BAUM’S Act (2018):

RAY BAUM'S Act was named for a politician who passed away the same year it was passed, with the title later being repurposed into an acronym for: 

Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services

This act proposed the FCC adopt particular rules for 9-1-1 service providers, requiring them to:

• Share "dispatchable location" information from a 9-1-1 call to the receiving PSAP
• Advising that a 9-1-1 call was made (even if it is disconnected or otherwise fails)
• With that advisement, also providing:
• ANI (automatic number information)
• ALI (automatic location information)
  ...for all 9-1-1 calls

911 SAVES Act (in progress)

If passed, this act will essentially grant dispatchers the status of first responders. More specifically, it aims to:

• Assign a universal classification ("Public Safety Telecommunicators") to the set of occupations currently ranging in title from "dispatcher" to "911 operator" 
• Change the classification of PSTs from "clerical" (with secretaries, bookkeepers, and desk clerks) into the "Protective Service Occupations" category (with LEOs, firefighters, lifeguards, bouncers, and crossing guards); and in doing so,
• Grant PSTs access to mental and emotional health resources as are set aside for first responders who deal with post traumatic stress