By Ben Ernst
Public safety professionals have faced numerous challenges over the past few years — from increased crime rates to staffing shortages — that have affected the efficiency of their emergency response. On top of that, many agencies are strapped with outdated technologies and combined with limited resources, making collaboration and data sharing difficult. Nearly a third of agency leaders said incorporating new technologies was one of their top challenges, according to a report by Thomson Reuters.
While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to these challenges, assistive AI technologies and other emerging solutions provide a promising fix to help alleviate some of these burdens and improve emergency response capabilities. Yet, many agencies, as they juggle priorities and limited budgets, are unable to go forward with technology advancements.
But failing to keep up with advancements in technology could do agencies — and the communities they protect — a disservice, leaving staff unequipped to handle changing demands from the public. Agencies should continue to look for ways to implement new technologies that have the biggest impact to meet these emerging challenges and improve public safety.
Addressing workforce burdens
When used correctly, technology can help public agencies address some of their biggest pain points. Nearly half of agencies said their top issue was staffing, according to the Thomson Reuters report. Advancements in technology have proven to be able to help emergency communications centers make faster and more informed decisions and more effectively share information with other agencies and field responders, especially during periods of high demand, lessening the burden on their staff and resulting in improved outcomes for those they serve.
One such technology is NG911/112, currently being introduced in the U.S., Canada and Europe. This upgraded version of the traditional 911 system has many components that enhance public safety, including integrated support for sharing of voice, photos, videos and text messages between the caller, emergency communications center and field responders to enable a more robust, efficient and safer response.
The technology also helps route calls to the appropriate answering point, manage non-emergency calls, integrate with apps and other tools, and collaborate with other emergency communications centers. The interconnected design of NG911 also helps ensure improved resiliency and security of the public safety communications system by ensuring automatic failover and backup capabilities in the event an emergency call center is overloaded with calls or otherwise unavailable.
Although significant progress has been made in the last few years, the transition to NG911 systems in the U.S has been slower than anyone would have liked, largely due to the lack of federal funding to support a nationwide large-scale roll-out.
In the interim, states and regions have led the way forward, supported by associations like The National State 911 Administrators Association (NASNA) and The National Emergency Number Association (NENA), as well as other partners like the National 911 Program Office, The NG911 Institute and various political and community leaders. Where components of NG911 have been deployed, a plethora of benefits have been realized, validating the decades-long effort to modernize this essential public safety resource. It has proven to make a difference in staffing stress by giving emergency communicators more information and situational awareness to do their jobs better, improving the resiliency and redundancy of 911, and thereby helping create safer communities.
Advantages of Assistive AI
Beyond advancing to NG911, public safety agencies can also increase safety and efficiency when they embrace AI technologies. Whether by translating different languages or filtering out background noise on emergency calls, first responders can use AI as a helpful tool to improve their responses.
Some agencies have already begun using AI to live-translate emergency calls from callers who speak another language. Before that, responders had to manually call a third-party interpreter. The AI translation tool can cut down response times by minutes. AI is also being used to detect background sounds and voices in domestic violence calls, which can help alert call takers of another person’s presence or a situation unfolding during the call.
AI applications can also be used to track calls and data and identify patterns that might alert responders of a larger problem. For example, if call centers receive several reports of breathing issues in one area, they may be able to link it back to a greater problem, such as a gas leak. Or if several call-takers receive seemingly unrelated purse-snatching incidents, all mentioning a red car, it can alert supervisors that they may be related so they can review. Using AI is proving to be able to help agencies improve outcomes, response time and decision-making.
Despite the benefits of AI technology, many organizations are hesitant to embrace it due to misconceptions and fears — such as bias in facial recognition, AI replacing jobs, or AI making errors in decisions. However, in public safety, AI is best used as an assistant rather than a replacement for human experience and decision-making. “Assistive AI” doesn’t take away jobs or make decisions, rather, it assists first responders in making the most informed decisions. It helps them respond faster, work more efficiently, reduce impacts on their communities and ultimately, save more lives.
As technology advances and we look for more effective ways to address crime and safety, agencies must stay up to date on new technologies and tools that can address their challenges and improve public safety. We all want a safer future. Let’s embrace the technology that can help us get there.
About the author
Ben Ernst is vice president/general manager of North America Public Safety at Hexagon’s Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial division.