National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (NPSTW) is held annually during the second week of April to honor public safety telecommunicators for their commitment, service, and sacrifice.

NPSTW initially started in 1981 by Patricia Anderson of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office in California. In 1994, President William J. Clinton signed Presidential Proclamation 6667, declaring the second week of April as NPSTW. This week is a time to celebrate and thank telecommunications personnel across the nation who serve our communities, citizens, and public safety personnel 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Learn more about the history of NPSTW and how you can celebrate our public safety telecommunicators.

Celebrating Telecommunicators Blog Series

This blog series highlights the important work being done by emergency telecommunication teams across the country and features ways CISA is supporting their essential mission. New blog posts will be published throughout the week.

Read more about NPSTW and Emergency Communications Month

Celebrating Telecommunicators Series: Collaborating Across Federal, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Agencies

APR 14, 2023 | BLOG

The National 911 Program joins CISA in celebrating National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (NPSTW) and Emergency Communications Month. During this time and throughout the year, we acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our nation’s 911 telecommunicators.

Celebrating Telecommunicators Series: Cybersecurity in Emergency Communications Centers

APR 13, 2023 | BLOG

It is an honor to celebrate our nation’s public safety telecommunicators and CISA is grateful for its partnership with the 911 community.

Celebrating Telecommunicators Series: Evolving Technology in Emergency Communications Centers

APR 12, 2023 | BLOG

As CISA continues to celebrate National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (NPSTW) and Emergency Communications Month, this is an opportunity to recognize public safety telecommunicators and their dedication, hard work, and commitment to excellence.

Celebrating Telecommunicators Series: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Recognizes 911 Emergency Professionals during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week 2023

APR 11, 2023 | BLOG

CISA is honored to celebrate National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (NPSTW) to give recognition to our nation’s public safety telecommunicators. We thank you for your commitment and dedication to public safety and ensuring no call for help goes unanswered.

CISA supports the 911 community

All 911 centers, including emergency communications centers (ECCs), public safety answering points (PSAPs), public safety communications centers (PSCCs), emergency operations centers (EOCs), and other public safety command centers, are a critical component of emergency communications and provide critical, life-saving emergency services to the public.

CISA works collaboratively with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial (FSLTT) governments, the private sector, and volunteer response organizations to support emergency communications operability, interoperability, security, and resiliency across our nation.

Strategic Planning

CISA developed the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) to strengthen emergency communications capabilities, transition to Next Generation 911 (NG911) capabilities, and incorporate human factors in training and exercises.

Research and Development

CISA conducts innovative studies and pilots and develops tools for 911 and NG911. These activities include Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD)-to-CAD initiatives, multimedia consumption research, and tool development to ease the burden on telecommunicators

Technical Assistance

CISA provides direct technical assistance and training to support 911. The service offerings, including NG911 strategic planning support and 911 cyber assessments, can be found in the Technical Assistance Catalog

Resources and Tools

CISA develops stakeholder-driven tools and guidance to encourage operable, interoperable, and resilient communications. Products are informed by a broad range of emergency communications stakeholders representing SAFECOM, NCSWIC, and ECPC.

911 Resources

CISA developed the following resources, guidance, and tools to help 911 centers prepare for NG911, strengthen cyber hygiene practices, and support the health and wellness of public safety telecommunicators.

NG911 Self-Assessment Tool

This detailed, easy-to-use NG911 readiness checklist allows 911 centers to evaluate their NG911 maturity state and understand next steps to implement NG911.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Lifecycle Best Practices Guide

This guide, combined with the State of California and City of Manassas, Virginia, use cases, provides GIS lifecycle best practices to help 911 centers implement essential GIS components for NG911 and helpful tips for navigating the GIS lifecycle.

NG911 Incident-Related Imagery Impacts 101

This document provides public safety and emergency communications leadership with considerations for addressing acceptance of incident-related imagery through 911 systems.

Considerations for Establishing Agreements for NG911

This document, developed by ECPC for FSLTT agencies, highlights considerations for establishing agreements for NG911, such as defining roles and responsibilities, resources and services, and technical requirements.

Preparing for Technological Transformation

This guide provides innovative strategies and resources to enhance recruitment and retention, career development, and health and wellness for ECC personnel as well as emerging tools to supplement staffing, enhance data sharing, and improve delivery.

Cybersecurity for 911 and NG911 Systems

911 centers are often targeted by malicious actors seeking to disrupt 911 operations and their ability to provide life-saving and critical emergency services to the public. These resources provide information on common attack vectors to 911 systems and best practices to mitigate cyber threats, such as ransomware, telephony denial-of-service (TDoS), and malware attacks.

Cyber Risks to NG911

This document gives public safety managers and officials accurate information and best practices to maintain and improve their NG911 cybersecurity posture.

Public Safety Cyber and Communications Resiliency Toolkit

This toolkit helps public safety agencies evaluate their current cybersecurity resiliency, identify improvements, and develop plans for mitigating the effects of potential cyber threats.

Cyber Incident Response Case Studies

These case studies highlight best practices from ECCs and PSAPs responding to real-world cyber incidents and provide actionable tips to prepare for and respond to cyber incidents:

Cyber Risks to 911: TDoS

This fact sheet familiarizes public safety communications partners with TDoS threats to 911. The document overviews common TDoS attack vectors, highlights real-world TDoS incidents, and suggest best practices to mitigate TDoS impacts.

Protect Your Center from Ransomware Poster

Place this poster in any 911 center to share information about what staff can do to reduce the risk of ransomware. Its recommendations are applicable across a range of cyber threats like phishing, social engineering, and password management.

Two Things Every 911 Center Should Do to Improve Cybersecurity

This fact sheet highlights actionable steps that ECCs/PSAPs can take to enhance their cybersecurity posture, conduct cyber risk assessments, and develop cyber incident and vulnerability response plans to protect and mitigate cyberattacks.

Want to learn more about our 911 initiatives?

Visit the SAFECOM Transition to NG911 web page or email ng11wg@cisa.dhs.gov for additional resources and information about how CISA is supporting telecommunication personnel across the nation.

Visit SAFECOM's Transition to NG911