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In the sphere of public safety, we often overlook the crucial role of those people who answer 911 calls, gather necessary information, and relay it to law enforcement personnel. There’s a vast amount of unseen work, and more often than not, the circumstances are filled with high stress.
Carbyne, a provider of cloud-native emergency call management, in partnership with NENA: The 9-1-1 Association, recently announced the groundbreaking findings of their inaugural “Pulse of 9-1-1 State of the Industry Survey.” This first-of-its-kind survey unveils compelling insights into the critical challenges faced by the 9-1-1 call center staff.
In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, host Jim Dudley speaks with Karima Holmes, MPA, vice president of public safety at Carbyne about the survey’s results. Karima Holmes has served as executive director at emergency communications centers (ECC) across the U.S. where she overhauled technical infrastructure and critical public safety programs. Holmes has also leveraged her industry experience to establish partnerships with local, federal and international public safety and homeland security response agencies.
Resources mentioned in this episode
- Pulse of 911: NENA & Carbyne State of the Industry Survey
- Op-ed: Better technology can help solve the public-safety staffing crisis by Karima Holmes
About our sponsor
This episode of the Policing Matters podcast is sponsored by OfficerStore. Learn more about getting the gear you need at prices you can afford by visiting OfficerStore.com.
Top quotes from this episode
911 is completely stressed. Understaffing is the biggest problem. Technology is needed. And Next-Generation 911, while it doesn’t solve all the problems, it will help all that.”
Not only are we having higher call volume across the country, the type of calls are a little more stressful.”
Some 911 centers report they are 50% short on personnel.”
About our guest
Karima Holmes is a seasoned public safety professional and a recognized emergency communications industry leader. Over the past two decades, she has served as executive director at emergency communications centers (ECC) across the U.S., where she overhauled their technical infrastructure and critical public safety programs. Holmes also leveraged her industry experience to establish partnerships with local and federal law enforcement and homeland security agencies in every jurisdiction in which she served.
Highly notable is her oversight of Washington, DC’s sole ECC for multiple National Special Security Events, State of the Union Addresses, and the 2017 and 2020 Presidential Inaugurations. Ms. Holmes was at the helm of the Office of Unified Communications in the nation’s capital throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing civil unrest of 2020 and the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In October 2019, she was appointed to the FirstNet Authority Board by the U.S. Commerce Secretary and currently serves. In April 2023, she joined Carbyne as Vice President, Head of Public Safety.
Connect with Karima Holmes
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