States & Cities Using Framingham Company To Better Engage Their Communities, Protect First Responders & Provide Emergency Response During COVID-19 Pandemic

The following is a press release. SOURCE is publishing as received.

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FRAMINGHAM – Rave Mobile Safety (Rave), a provider of solutions that empower community safety, is working with states, cities and counties nationwide to equip local authorities and first responders with the tools they need to communicate with the public and protect front-line workers as they respond to the coronavirus.

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Officials in Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, New Mexico, Chicago, Seattle, Suffolk County, NY and Kern County, CA, among others, are leveraging Rave for critical public notifications as well as information sharing between authorities and the public as authorities grapple with an increased demand for accurate information and a high 9-1-1 call load due to the coronavirus.

The City of Framingham also uses the company’s Smart 911 system. The Framingham Police Department introduced Smart911 to Framingham residents to improve 9-1-1 services to citizens and enhance public safety in 2014.

During times of crisis and stress, misinformation spreads more quickly than ever—and can have sometimes fatal consequences if people accept it as truth. States, cities, counties and towns need a way to securely, quickly and reliably communicate with the public to not only quell fears but direct their attention to accurate information. Seattle—one of the first cities to see a swell of cases in the United States—used Rave Alert to keep the public informed of facts as they developed and to redirect them to reliable sources of information.

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Sending out reliable updates is only one facet of what states and communities need to do to effectively connect with and serve their residents.

As public safety and health agencies and first responders grapple with the coronavirus outbreak and a surge in 9-1-1 calls, it is critical that they can proactively identify, communicate with and respond to those at greatest risk—as well as give first responders the foresight they need to protect themselves from exposure.

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That includes collecting and managing critical details about the public, including access and functional needs, quarantine status and high-risk categories such as respiratory conditions, immune deficiencies and more.

Through Smart911 in Chicago, Seattle, Suffolk County and Arkansas, quarantined individuals can report preexisting conditions and whether they are in mandated or self-quarantine and receive check-in messages on their health status.

That information is delivered straight to 9-1-1 to help protect residents and first responders. In New Castle County, Del., 9-1-1 centers are using the Rave 911 Suite to initiate two-way video chat, allowing the 9-1-1 center to triage calls/treat minor issues by video for efficiency and to prevent unnecessary risk of exposure for responders.

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“Every time our first responders report to a 9-1-1 call, they risk exposing themselves to the virus,” said Jeff Miller, Chief of Emergency Communications of New Castle County. “The Rave platform provides us with additional information and tools for our COVID-19 response, including the data that flows into 9-1-1 and the ability to stream video from the field—allowing us to protect first responders and preserve our resources for where they’re needed most.”

Collecting real-time data from the public helps better protect both them and first responders and helps public health officials better understand the trends in their communities. Louisiana is leveraging Rave’s COVID response capabilities, which map community COVID data, allow for the identification of high-risk communities and provide the ability to obtain real-time updates from the public regarding their health status.

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As a part of Rave’s capabilities, automated “wellness checks” can be initiated to quickly gather updates in a hotspot community or across an entire state. Residents are encouraged to opt in to the service so that the state understands who is most at risk of becoming ill, and can follow up with anyone who has already been tested to check whether symptoms have changed in order to help public health departments understand changing trends.

“We’re facing a massive crisis on the front lines of the pandemic response: first responders and medical personnel expose themselves to risk every time they respond to a call, 9-1-1 call centers are overloaded as call volumes spike, and authorities are trying to get a complete picture of what the crisis looks like in their state,” said Todd Piett, CEO, Rave.

“Coordination between all of the stakeholders involved—from emergency management and public health officials to 9-1-1 and first responders—has never been more important. We know that real-time collaboration between authorities and the public, as well as among stakeholders, is critical to creating an effective response, and we’re proud to help states and communities accomplish just that,” said the CEO.

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Rave Mobile Safety provides innovative emergency and public safety technology to help save lives. The Rave platform integrates data and communication tools to help those in charge of keeping others safe prepare better, respond faster and communicate more effectively in emergency situations. Thousands of agencies and institutions across law enforcement, 9-1-1, state and local emergency management agencies, corporations, healthcare organizations, K–12 districts, colleges and universities depend on Rave’s award-winning software solutions. Founded in 2004, Rave is headquartered in Framingham, and backed by leading growth equity firm TCV, which manages over $15B.