Today and every day, first responders and emergency managers across the United States are using technology to respond to everyday emergencies and to incidents and illnesses related to the COVID-19 virus. The scope and intensity of the challenges posed by this pandemic are at a scale unseen any time in my career and beyond the impact of any local emergency, no matter how dire.
In the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, the lack of reliable communication devices and systems for first responders was cited as an area in need of major improvements. Congress took up the task and provided the emergency services with a dedicated and resilient solution — the FirstNet system.
Today, the FirstNet system provides responders across the country with reliable access to data and voice communications. The FirstNet system monitors emergency communications activity and can change system configuration and capacity to respond along with the responders to provide system capacity to support local and regional emergencies.
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