County Commission | The Magazine April 2020 | Page 18

AAND: Applying Innovation to
9-1-1 Funding and Technology
At ACCA’s 2019 Legislative Conference, Marvin McIlwain of Coffee
County spoke to his AAND colleagues about building and maintaining
relationships with legislators. McIlwain, a past president of AAND, serves on
the organization’s legislative committee.
A
mericans count on being able
to dial – or increasingly, to
text – 9-1-1 for help at any hour
of the day or night, wherever they
are. That’s a big promise, a promise
that is faithfully fulfilled by local
governments.
In the early 2000s, leaders in
Alabama’s 9-1-1 community were
looking for a way to work together
to shore up funding. The first-ever
9-1-1 call in the United States was
made right here in Haleyville,
but the outlook was not rosy for
smaller emergency communication
districts, struggling financially
under the then-current funding
system supported by dwindling
landlines.
“We were trying to come up
18 | APRIL 2020
with a solution where we could
all survive,” said Bill Brodeur of
Etowah County 9-1-1. Alabama had
an active chapter of the National
Emergency Number Association,
but it was not equipped for
legislative advocacy in Montgomery.
So leaders in the 9-1-1
community discussed options with
ACCA, and in 2006, the Alabama
Association of 9-1-1 Districts was
formed as an affiliate group. The
following year, legislation passed to
provide another $6 million annually
to critical 9-1-1 services.
As time went on, changes in the
telecommunications marketplace
accelerated as more and more
consumers disconnected their
landlines, putting rural emergency
communication
districts once again
at risk. And again,
AAND and ACCA
sounded the alarm,
working two years
for legislative
passage of a new
funding model in
2012.
But rapidly
evolving technology
drives more than
just 9-1-1 funding.
AAND works
aggressively to help
members stay on
technology’s cutting
edge operationally
with text-to-911, photo and
video capability, the Alabama
Next Generation Emergency
Network and geographic
information systems. The group is
also heavily involved in developing
new training for dispatchers.
In the beginning, some
members of the 9-1-1 community
expressed reservations about coming
under the ACCA umbrella, but
they are firmly anchored today. “It’s
been very beneficial,” said Marvin
McIlwain, coordinator of Coffee
County 9-1-1. “I think we are a
complement to the ACCA.”
In many cases, the county
governing body appoints 9-1-1
boards, and 9-1-1 directors say their
communication and relationships
with their county commissioners
have improved. Likewise, ACCA
gets the advantage of having a large
number of 9-1-1 directors, board