Indiana County’s Emergency Management Agency has announced that first responders will soon have access to a private broadband network that is meant exclusively for them and for the public safety community.
In a news release, EMA director Tom Stutzman said that the county’s first responders will soon be connected to AT&T FirstNet, which is designed to equip firefighters, police, paramedics and others with new capabilities and reliable access to critical information while in the field. The county turned to FirstNet to help fill the gaps in connectivity that existed previously in the county. As part of the ongoing effort, a new cell site was turned on in Montgomery Township, which gives not just AT&T customers but FirstNet subscribers better coverage along Route 286 and Gipsy Road.
The county has also purchased modems that will be put in police cars, ambulances and fire trucks that can be utilized to share information between 911 dispatchers and first responders. This will give the first responders quick access to information like road closures, building layouts, and other mapping information that would need to be explained verbally by dispatchers.
Stutzman said that FirstNet is in the preliminary phases in Indiana County, and it will take some time the program to be fully deployed.
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