As the holiday season approaches, it brings an influx of activities and travel, increasing the demands on emergency response systems. During this critical time, public safety answering points (PSAPs) face heightened risks from unexpected outages, severe weather events, and increased call volumes. Ensuring uninterrupted 911 reliability isn't just a goal—it's a necessity.

RapidDeploy provides innovative tools like Radius Mapping and Lightning to prepare 911 agencies for even the most challenging scenarios. This blog explores how RapidDeploy helps agencies maintain situational awareness and continuity during system interruptions, drawing insights from agencies across Kansas, Florida, and a case study from Cherokee County, South Carolina.

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Rising to the Challenge: 911 System Interruptions

911 outages can occur unexpectedly, disrupting the lifeline between citizens and emergency responders. These interruptions may result from natural disasters, technical malfunctions, or infrastructure failures. During peak holiday seasons, the stakes are even higher, as emergency call volumes surge while responders contend with adverse weather or increased travel-related incidents.

For PSAPs, traditional legacy systems often fall short during large-scale interruptions. This is where cloud-based solutions like RapidDeploy’s Radius Mapping shine, providing real-time visibility into emergencies even when voice calls cannot connect.

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Ensuring Preparedness Across Kansas

Across Kansas, agencies preparing for holiday season challenges have turned to RapidDeploy’s Radius Mapping and Lightning applications to enhance their response capabilities. The integration of these tools provides:

1. Real-Time Location Tracking: PSAPs can pinpoint call locations with precision, even when traditional voice connections fail.
   

2. Enhanced Situational Awareness: Agencies gain comprehensive overviews of incidents, enabling more effective resource allocation.
   

3. Seamless Interoperability: RapidDeploy supports collaboration with neighboring jurisdictions, an essential capability during large-scale events.

By leveraging these tools, Kansas agencies ensure they can respond swiftly and effectively, offering peace of mind to residents during one of the busiest times of the year.

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The Role of Lightning During an Outage

In the face of a system outage, RapidDeploy’s Lightning application plays a pivotal role in maintaining emergency response capabilities. Designed as a mobile-first platform, Lightning extends the reach of PSAPs beyond traditional call centers, ensuring continuity of operations even in the most challenging scenarios.

Here’s how Lightning proves indispensable during outages:

1. Access Anywhere, Anytime: Lightning equips field responders with real-time situational awareness, enabling them to access critical 911 data directly on their mobile devices. This decentralization is essential when PSAPs experience disruptions, ensuring responders can continue operations remotely.
   

2. Continuity for Telecommunicators and First Responders: During an outage, Lightning allows telecommunicators and responders to stay connected with one another and the community. Through features like location-based routing and live updates, the app enables seamless communication, minimizing emergency calls left unanswered.
   

3. Real-Time Mapping and Collaboration: Lightning integrates with Radius Mapping to provide live data about ongoing emergencies. First responders can view incidents plotted on a map, enabling them to respond swiftly and effectively. The application’s interoperability ensures that neighboring jurisdictions can collaborate seamlessly, a crucial feature during large-scale events or natural disasters.
   

4. Backup Communications Tools: Outages often disrupt voice calls, but Lightning’s in-app communication tools, such as text messaging and automated updates, ensure that responders can maintain contact with individuals in need.

Together, these tools create a robust safety net so that emergency response services have the best chance of mitigating uninterrupted service.

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Radius Mapping: A Lifeline During a Critical Outage

An outage in Cherokee County, South Carolina, tested the vital role of RapidDeploy’s technology in ensuring operational continuity. During a peak call time, the Cherokee County 911 center experienced a critical outage, rendering their primary call-routing system inoperable. However, with Radius Mapping in place, telecommunicators maintained visibility of 911 calls as they plotted on the map, despite the absence of live voice connections.

Using mobile signal data displayed in Radius Mapping, Cherokee County’s telecommunicators identified the exact locations of individuals trying to reach 911. This enabled them to initiate voice calls and text-from-911 communications directly from the Radius Mapping platform. Over 30 emergency calls were successfully managed during the outage, thanks to RapidDeploy's seamless technology integration.

Brandon Peeler, Deputy Director of Cherokee County 911, highlighted the system’s impact:

"This happened during our peak time, and we are very grateful for this product for our employees and our citizens."

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Similarly, when the CAD system in Titusville, Florida, went down for nearly five days, RapidDeploy’s tools ensured continuous emergency operations. Gregory C. Morrison, Communications Manager at Titusville Police Department, emphasized:

"When our CAD System went down for nearly 5 days, we relied exclusively on RapidDeploy to be able to locate our cellular 911 callers, which make up 87% of our calls, at an average of 250 calls per day. The availability of RapidDeploy to plot and locate these callers was essential to maintaining efficiency in dispatch."

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Best Practices for Holiday Preparedness

To ensure reliability during interruptions, PSAPs can adopt the following best practices:

1. Invest in Cloud-Based Technology: Solutions like RapidDeploy’s Radius Mapping and Lightning provide unparalleled visibility and continuity during outages.
   

2. Conduct Regular Training: Familiarizing telecommunicators with advanced tools ensures they are prepared to manage high-stress situations.
   

3. Implement Redundancy Plans: Establish multiple layers of backups, including cloud-based systems, to mitigate risks of downtime.
   

4. Foster Interoperability: Work closely with neighboring jurisdictions to coordinate response efforts seamlessly.

A Season of Preparedness

As we embrace the holidays, let us also recognize the dedication of 911 professionals who work tirelessly to ensure public safety. Through innovative technology like RapidDeploy’s Radius Mapping and Lightning mobile app, agencies can stay prepared, respond effectively, and safeguard their communities during this bustling season and beyond.

For more insights into how RapidDeploy is transforming 911 reliability, explore the Cherokee County case study.

This holiday season, RapidDeploy stands as a partner in preparedness, empowering PSAPs to deliver reliable, uninterrupted service when it matters most. Together, we can ensure a safer, more secure holiday season for all.