Collier County, Florida, has recently emerged as a shining star in the field of emergency communications. It’s home to one of the most rated 911 centers in the US. This facility provides for callers to record voice messages, send text messages and share videos directly from the location of the emergency. This in-flight capability substantially enhances the emergency response’s effectiveness. The Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office covers 1,200 square miles. It uniquely serves a region that spans the sandy Gulf Coast beaches to the wild Everglades.
The county operates two emergency operations centers that are always staffed. With a permanent staff of 61 full-time and three part-time employees, they even have the ability to staff their operations around the clock. Collier County has some of the best local capacity in the state. It has teamed with the City of Charleston, South Carolina, to help set up a backup 911 administrative center. This partnership equips each area to take priority emergency calls from the other. When one center faces appendix system failures, they are able to rely on this support.
Michael Martin, CEO of RapidSOS, has been instrumental in advocating for this innovative, high-tech infrastructure. By routing life-saving essential data to over 5,000 emergency centers nationwide for free, RapidSOS is giving dispatchers a greater level of situational awareness. Martin notes a significant challenge: “There has been no federal funding for 911.” This lack of federal oversight has, for far too long, left 911 systems to fend for themselves on local funding and resource islands.
In spite of these hurdles, Collier County’s proactive systems have shown themselves to be efficacious. Next Generation 911 (NG911) systems have changed the nature of dispatching. Nowadays, they rely on geo-tracking technology to get a more accurate location from callers. Only a handful of states have made the complete shift to NG911. At the same time, many others still depend on failing infrastructure and obsolete technology.
Today, the majority of 911 calls start on cellphones, Martin explains. “It’s really quite remarkable how well 911 works despite those challenges.” He emphasizes that the success of these emergency services is due more to the dedication of personnel than to technology itself: “I think it’s a testament to the people of 911, not the technology.”
Collier County was recently prepared to assist Leon County in the event of an emergency that might knock their center offline. During Hurricane Helene, for instance, if a citizen could reach a dial tone, another center in Florida could take their call even if their local 911 center had been compromised. “During Helene, if a citizen could reach a dial tone, even though their local 911 center may have been impacted because of infrastructure devastation, another center somewhere in the state could answer their call,” said Harris, an emergency services official.
The partnership between RapidSOS and local authorities has taken things a step further. Finney noted that “because of the partnership with RapidSOS, they were able to create a map to where not only did we see our own calls, but we could see exactly where the calls were coming in Tallahassee.” This type of coordination is a great example of how technology can complement and improve traditional emergency response systems.
Artificial disasters now seem an inescapable reality across much of the country, with Texas recently given another deadly and devastating round of flooding. This disorder makes apparent the urgent call for improved 911 operations. Michael Martin remarked, “We’re just reminded in these last two weeks, with the flooding in Texas, just how important the work of 911 is.”
