Why do we need technology for Public Safety?

I believe that first responders are amazing people. I believe they are selfless, work incredibly well in teams, and work each day genuinely wanting to help people in their communities. In some cases, they personally know who they are helping, and in some cases, the people they help are strangers. I believe they are willing to put their lives on the line to be of service to us when we need them most. I believe they respond to calls for help and give 100%, not just because lives are on the line, but because of the golden rule.

I believe they continue to serve their communities and do so amazingly well because it is more important to help others than anything else they could do in society. I also believe it is our responsibility to give them the right technology and capability to perform these lifesaving roles more effectively. We must empower them with technology that complements their exceptional role in emergency response.

In my many years working in public safety, I have found that if you provide real time, accurate information to responders in the field in a way that they can readily leverage, they will make the best split second decisions that will absolutely save lives.  I believe we have an obligation to ensure this happens. It is for this reason that I went back into public service at FirstNet at its creation and it is for this reason that we have created The Public Safety Network.

I truly believe there is nothing more important I could be doing on earth than ensuring our firefighters, law enforcement officers, and EMS personnel have the right tools at the right time to do the difficult work they do each day. I can assure you we will innovate new technologies and solutions that empower public safety each day and facilitate emergency response like never before.

I know that public safety has already crossed the tipping point now that all first responders across the United States have access to a public safety broadband network with prioritized and preemptive capabilities that the Internet of Life Saving Things (IoLST) will ride on into the future. By ensuring that reliable and innovative technology gets into the hands of all first responders, we’ll improve operations and make emergency response safer for all involved, so we will know that our first responders will always be there for us.