Robert “Dusty” Rhoads, nationwide governance associate director, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, had expected to make a presentation during APCO 2021 about the lessons learned and best practices regarding the coronavirus pandemic just passed in the United States. Instead, “How the Coronavirus Pandemic Forever Changed the Future of 9-1-1” was delivered Wednesday during a major resurgence of the pandemic as the Delta variant sweeps the nation.
So Rhoads started his presentation with the realization that it will probably happen again. “Planning must consider the future impacts of more pandemics. The idea that this the last one, I think, we’re getting over,” Rhoads said. “We must consider that pandemics are part of our future and that the challenge for 9-1-1 is protecting the people.’’
By “the people,” Rhoads is referring to the public safety telecommunicators and other staff who make emergency communications centers work. As ECC staff have been struck by the virus – incapacitated due to illness or quarantined due to exposure – continuity of service is threatened along with the life and health of personnel.
“What we learned in this pandemic is that we cannot count on that there will be people available,” he said.
In addition to taking steps to keep staff healthy, Rhoads said advances in next generation 9-1-1 that will improve interoperability among ECCs can maintain continuity of operations.
Another problem at the start of the pandemic was a surge in non-emergency calls to 9-1-1 as people called with questions about the virus. Rhoads stressed the need for coordinating non-emergency lines with public health departments and for getting the message out to the public about availability of the non-emergency lines.
Some agencies responded to the pandemic by shifting telecommunicators to remote call-taking and dispatching. Rhoads noted that the policy inhibited informal conversation, which helps ECCs run smoothly. Even social distancing can limit such conversations. Audience members attending the session said chat applications such as Microsoft Teams and Slack helped maintain communication among staff.
Rhoads cited statistics showing that the number of cyberattacks increased with the pandemic, and their focus shifted from private businesses and individuals to government and critical infrastructure such as public safety communications.
Rhoads stressed the need for ECCs to communicate with their colleagues from agencies near and far to keep abreast of the cyberthreats proliferating in real time. He also cited his agency as a resource for cybersecurity information and prevention advice at www.cisa.gov.
“We all need to be smarter when it comes to cybersecurity – the things that we do day in and day out that makes it easier for the bad guys to come into the system,” Rhoads said.
