The state chapter of the National Emergency Number Association • EMERGENCY HELP. Anytime, anywhere, any device.
When: Tuesday, April 11, 2017 – Thursday, April 13, 2017
The New Jersey Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association is New Jersey’s premier conference on 911 and emergency response. The conference will once again be at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City. Register soon as this conference will fill up fast.
The New Jersey Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) offers scholarships to current professionals who might not otherwise be able to attend the NJ NENA Annual Conference. Awards are based on the appropriateness of the educational opportunity related to the applicant’s job, contributions of the applicant to his/her community and to NJ NENA. Scholarships will be awarded to cover the cost of attending the NJ NENA Annual Conference as well as 2 nights in the Conference Hotel. Scholarship recipients MUST be current NENA members.
Please download and review the proposed bylaws changes. You can download an annotated version here. The are to be voted on and accepted during the 2017 Annual Conference.
Major Changes:
1. Two year terms for executive board positions.
2. Private Sector members may serve a regional VP (consistent w/ National NENA)
3. Emergency Dispatcher is now Telecommunicator member.
4. Elimination of Second Vice President position.
5. Streamline nomination and election processes
Aside from that there are minor language changes to bring us inline with NENA. The bylaws will first be sent to NENA for their approval and formal acceptance must be done during the NJ-NENA meeting at the annual conference. If you have any questions, please contact a member of the bylaws committee.
Bylaws Committee: Chairperson – Ray Strilec, Al McNally and Dara Orsini
NJ-NENA Fall Meeting will be held on Wednesday October 19th at the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office in Freehold, NJ. A continental breakfast and registration will begin at 8:30 AM with the meeting starting at 9:30AM .
The continental breakfast this year is sponsored by Wilmac Corp. We have some excellent speakers for this years meeting along with election of officers for 2017 and an update on the 2017 conference. Our President, Gareth Williams will present an update on NENA National and several initiatives they are working on.
A representative from NJ OETS will provide an update for the State of NJ 911.
This is open to all NENA Members free of charge. If you plan to attend and you are not a NENA member a registration fee of $50 will be charged at the door and it includes a one year membership to NENA.
October 22, 2015 – New Jersey NENA held its annual Fall Membership Meeting at the Burlington County Public Safety Training Academy. Craig Reiner of the Office of Telecommunications Services provided an update on the state’s Text-to-911 efforts. Joe Geleta provided an overview of the NJ 2-1-1 Partnership and Fred Scalera gave a very interesting presentation on JerseyNet, the state portion of FirstNet. Fred brought some of the mobile equipment with him, including a Cell On Wheels and System On Wheels, on which he gave a demonstration to attendees in the parking lot, on a beautiful autumn day.
Joe Geleta – New Jersey 2-1-1 http://www.nj211.org
Fred Scalera of NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness Demos a A C.O.W. and a S.O.W.
Bonnie began her career in Public Safety Communications at the Plainfield Police Department as a dispatcher, where she eventually served a Communications Manager and as the city 9-1-1 Coordinator. In 1992 Bonnie progressed in her career, taking a position with the Office of Emergency Telecommunications Services, which was then part of the New Jersey State Police.
Bonnie became a familiar face around the state’s PSAP community. It seemed everyone knew her and she knew everyone. Her contributions to 9-1-1 training and PSAP compliance produced confidence in and advanced professionalism of the state’s 9-1-1 system.
As one of the charter members of New Jersey NENA, Bonnie served as chapter president, first and second vice-president, treasurer and chapter secretary. She was involved in the planning of the very first NJ-NENA conference in Woodbridge, NJ and served as the conference chair for many years, setting the foundation of successful state conferences that we enjoy today.
It is not an exaggeration to say Bonnie has been an invaluable member of the NJ-NENA family. The majority of past and present executive board members were recruited by or encouraged to join by Bonnie. The organization would not be as successful as it is, had it not been for her. She truly left her mark and she will be sorely missed.
Bonnie had been battling cancer and unfortunately lost her fight. May she rest in peace.
A link to her obituary on Asbury Park Press with visitation details.
We sadly announce that Forrest Eichmann of Woodstown, NJ, age 71, died on December 31, 2014, at home after a hard-fought and courageous battle with cancer.
Forrest was a charter member of New Jersey NENA, served on the executive board and as chapter President in 1997 and 1998.
Beginning in his high school years, he served on the Woodstown Ambulance squad, as well as joining the Reliance Fire Company. It is the latter position where Forrest moved up the ranks, eventually becoming Chief from 1976 to 1980. Forrest continued to be an active member of the fire department for many years after that. Being the hard-worker that he was, Forrest also worked part-time as a fire and ambulance dispatcher. Forrest would eventually parlay his job as a dispatcher into becoming Director of Emergency Services for Salem County. Under his watch, 911 was introduced into Salem County for the first time in the early 1990s. Forrest retired from this position in 2002.
Funeral services will be held at 12 Noon Saturday, January 3rd in the Asbury United Methodist Church, 149 S. Main St. Woodstown, where friends are invited to visit from 10 AM until the time of service. A viewing will also be held from 5 to 8 PM Friday evening, January 2nd in the H.T. LAYTON FUNERAL HOME, 102 S. Main St., Woodstown. Burial will be in the Woodstown Baptist Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Forrest’s memory may be made to the Reliance Fire Company, 25 Broad St., Woodstown, NJ, 08098, or to the American Legion Ambulance Squad, PO Box 187, Woodstown, NJ 08098. Please visit www.htlayton.com to leave a note of condolence to the family. H.T. Layton Funeral Home & Cremation Services 102 S. Main St. Woodstown, NJ 08098 856-769-1515
The full Obituary can be viewed by clicking here.
We have several executive board changes to announce.
As most of you know by now, the passing of Patti Walsh left a vacancy in the position of South Region Vice-President. Mike Morgan, from the NJ Office of Emergency Telecommunications Services (OETS) was appointed to fill the position by President Faenza.
Private Sector Vice-President, Daryl Doran, formerly of Cassidian Communications (Now known as Airbus DS Communications), decided that it was time to retire. We thank Daryl for his years of service to NJ-NENA and we wish him all the best and we trust that he will enjoy retirement.
Taking Daryl’s place is Dara Orsini, Client Solutions Executive with Micro Strategies in Denville, NJ. I’m sure many of you will recognize Dara as a long-time exhibitor at our annual conferences. We welcome “new blood” to the executive board and we all look forward to working with both Dara and Mike.
Ray Strilec, who was appointed to serve as Second Vice-President at this past year’s conference, had to step down from the position because he has accepted employment in the private sector, performing technical support duties for Eventide, Inc., located in Little Ferry, NJ. To prevent conflicts of interest, NENA and NJ-NENA by-laws limit private sector income to only fifteen percent of an Executive Board member’s total income. This rule, of course, does not apply to the Private Sector Vice-President. Past-President, Gareth Williams accepted the appointment to serve as Second Vice-President.
“What began as volunteering with the Pennsauken First Aid Squad has turned into a fabulous career! Wouldn’t change a minute.” – Patti Walsh
Patricia “Patti” Walsh left us suddenly on June 24, 2014. She served as the Southern Region Vice-President for NJ-NENA over the past 3 years. Prior to that, beginning in 2009, Patti served as a conference committee volunteer.
Patti resided in Collingswood, NJ. She is survived by her companion, William Tucker, Jr., her children, Lawrence (Colleen) Walsh, Jr. and Kaitlyn Tucker. She is also survived by two grandchildren, Kayla and Matthew.
Patti’s first job in public safety, was as a trainer for Multi-Media Standard First Aid in 1972. That led her into public safety communications as Dispatcher #9, at Camden County Police Communications, on December 28, 1973. She spent the last 23 years as a telecommunicator for the Cherry Hill Police Department.
Her impressive career spanned over forty years. We are grateful for her devotion and years of service. She will be dearly missed by all.
April 25, 2014 – The annual New Jersey NENA Conference was held April 23 – 24, at the Trump Taj Mahal, Hotel and Casino, in Atlantic City.
Pre-conference sessions: Quality Assurance – “Plan – Do – Check – Act!” by Al McNally of MICCOM and “Achieving Accreditation for the Communications Center” by the Rodgers Group had a record number of attendees. These courses are held the day before the official start of the conference and are provided at no additional charge for full-conference participants.
Chapter elections were not held this year, as no nominations were submitted for any of the eligible executive board positions. Ray Strilec, who served as chapter president (2011 – 2012), volunteered to serve as Second Vice-President a second time. A practice, that unfortunately, is not uncommon in state chapters – commonly referred to as “retreading”. A reference to the remanufacturing and reuse of vehicle tires.
North Vice-President, Padre Fencik, Central VP, Dawn Sommeling, Southern VP, Patti Walsh and Private Sector VP, Daryl Doran will retain their positions on the executive board.
Representing National NENA at the conference, were President Bernard “Buster” Brown and Northeast Regional Director Ed Marecki. Both spoke at the NJ-NENA meeting, held Wednesday morning, urging members to get involved with the chapter. Chapter President, Monica Gavio also spoke, echoing those sentiments, suggesting one avenue is becoming a conference volunteer. Many executive board members began as volunteers for the organization. NJ-NENA members interested in becoming a volunteer, can get in contact with any of the executive board members. President Brown swore in the new executive board at the conclusion of the meeting.
Chapter president, Jack Faenza, presented a plaque to outgoing president, Monica Gavio, in appreciation for her years of service, culminating as chapter president. President Faenza then appointed conference volunteer Jason Lezcano, from Morris County Communications, as the new chapter secretary. Jason is taking over the position from Ray Strilec.
This years conference attendance was over 215 participants and 23 combined sponsors and exhibitors.