As most Americans make plans to spend time with family and friends to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, first responders across the country are preparing to work around the clock to keep communities safe.

The job of a first responder is dangerous any time of year, but summer celebrations present a new set of challenges and complexities for fire, law enforcement, EMS and other public safety workers. Calls to emergency responders increase by more than double over the Fourth of July holiday – car accidents, fire incidents, water rescues and heat exhaustion all tend to go hand-in-hand with warmer weather.

For the first time, as our first responders work to keep large crowds safe at Independence Day celebrations, FirstNet is now available. FirstNet is the nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety. More than 1,000 public safety agencies across 52 states and territories are already using the network - from volunteer firefighters and responders, state patrol agencies, school districts, and tribal and federal agencies.

This means that first responders in both small towns and big cities can access key capabilities and highly reliable FirstNet connections to communicate during every day operations, large planned events and emergencies. FirstNet users experience improved location services, data sharing to improve situational awareness, voice and data priority and preemption, access to real-time information and increased security over FirstNet’s physically separate, dedicated core.

Securing Fourth of July celebrations is just one example of how public safety is using FirstNet. Public safety agencies are using FirstNet service to communicate and coordinate in countless ways across the country, including:

• Natural Disasters: When a destructive storm in Brookfield, Connecticut damaged and overloaded area communications infrastructure, first responders were outfitted with 30 FirstNet “ready” devices connected to a deployable SatCOLT (satellite cell on light truck). Within hours, fire and police were taking advantage of FirstNet’s reliable connection with priority and preemption to help coordinate recovery efforts to area residents.
• Large Events: During this year’s Volvo Ocean sailing race in Newport, Rhode Island, FirstNet equipped area first responders with over 30 FirstNet devices with push-to-talk capabilities and the ability to set up multiple public safety talk groups. Fire, police, emergency management and EMS were connected to FirstNet’s Core with priority and preemption to enhance communications and coordinate response efforts.
• Tribal Lands: Since the Oglala Sioux Police Department became the first tribal community in the U.S. to implement FirstNet, officers now have a reliable wireless connection in their patrol cars. FirstNet is helping the police department to spend more time on daily patrols and crime prevention activities.
• Schools: Fifteen schools in Spartanburg County in South Carolina are now using mobile phones with FirstNet access. FirstNet gives school employees the ability to communicate with first responders over a dedicated network during an emergency.

FirstNet Authority is proud to support public safety’s use of THEIR network. As communities gather across America, we wish you, your family, and friends a happy and safe July fourth holiday.

To learn more about public safety organizations that are adopting FirstNet, check out our FirstNet in Action page.