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January 12, 2013Read more...

Reports of Influenza Activity in the U.S. Continue To Be Above Epidemic Levels

Download PDF Reports of influenza activity in the U.S. continued to be above epidemic levels. Although some areas that had been reporting “widespread” activity are now only reporting “regional” activity, those states reporting “widespread” activity increased to 48; “regional” in two; and Wash., D.C. reported “local” activity. According to the CDC, at the end of Week 2 (1/12/13), reports of influenza activity in the United States continued to be above epidemic levels. Although some areas that had been reporting...

January 5, 2013Read more...

Reports of Influenza Activity in the U.S. Continue To Be Elevated

Download PDF According to the CDC, at the end of Week 1 (1/5/13) report of influenza activity in the United States continued to be elevated although some markers of flu activity in some areas showed a decline. At this time, it is too early to tell if this is just a fluctuation or if it is a signal of an early peak to the 2012-13 flu season. Influenza levels are considered “widespread” in forty-seven (47) states; “regional” in two;...

December 29, 2012Read more...

Reports of Influenza Activity in the US Was Increasingly Elevated

Download PDF According to the CDC, at the end of Week 52 (12/29/12) report of influenza activity in the United States was increasingly elevated, with influenza levels considered “widespread” in forty-one (41) states; “regional” in seven; Wash., D.C. with “local”; and one state reporting "sporadic". Guam reported no flu activity and one state, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands did not report their activity levels. These numbers represent a huge increase in those numbers with widespread influenza...

December 1, 2012Read more...

Report of Influenza Activity in the U.S. Was Actually Down From Last Week

Download PDF Report of influenza activity in the U.S. was actually down from last week, with influenza levels considered “widespread” in eight states; “regional” in 15; 15 with “local;” with the remaining states reporting sporadic (12 states plus Washington, D.C., Guam) or no activity; a few territories did not report. The percentage of positive influenza specimens has increased.  

October 13, 2012Read more...

Reports of Influenza Activity in the U.S.

Reports of influenza activity in the U.S., flu levels are for all 50 states and territories are at a low level (compared historically). Of more than 3,000 specimens that were tested for influenza last week, there was a national average of 3.9% that tested positive for influenza. Read More

September 20, 2012Read more...

KSTP Channel 5 “Data Watchdog”

Local Minneapolis station KSTP Channel 5 featured FirstWatch in the news segment “Data Watchdog” Now Tracking Minneapolis 911 Calls City of Minneapolis Emergency Communications Center (MECC) & Hennepin EMS interview on ABC (KSTP) about deploying and using FirstWatch real-time Dashboards and data analytics and automated alerting for the 911 Communications Center, as well as EMS, Police and Fire teams. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jmtf0KTf8E

August 20, 2012Read more...

Minneapolis Rolls Out FirstWatch at APCO 

To ensure that police and emergency medical services in Minneapolis and Hennepin County arrive on scene as quickly as possible, the Minneapolis Emergency Communication Center and the Hennepin EMS Emergency Communication Center have deployed a new system that monitors every 911 call in real-time. Read the release.

July 13, 2012Read more...

FirstWatch Receives DHS SAFETY Act “Designation”

FirstWatch is now listed as “Designated” Homeland Security Technology on the DHS Safety Act website. FirstWatch was granted “Designation” status pursuant to the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 (“SAFETY Act”) and Regulations to Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies.

July 4, 2012Read more...

More 911 Centers Are Using Real-Time Data to Improve Performance

(The Journal of Emergency Dispatch, 2012) By Jenifer Goodwin Last year Thomas McEntee, general manager for American Medical Response (AMR) in Riverside, Calif., was looking for ways to improve response times in his service area, which encompasses some 5,500 square miles and just under 2 million people. "When we started to drill down and look at each individual time interval and where there were opportunities for us to save a few seconds here or there, one area we decided to focus on was...

June 6, 2012Read more...

Helpful Tip: Improve Response and Operations by Monitoring Your System in Near Real-Time

Emergency response in Pima County, Ariz., has improved significantly since the Northwest Fire Rescue District deployed FirstWatch, which allows for close monitoring of each step in 911 call processing and fire/emergency medical services response. Find out how  For more information about Northwest Fire Rescue District’s success using FirstWatch read the release.