New Act Requires Annual Disaster Hearings, Reclassifies 911 Dispatchers as Protective Service

The “Enhancing First Response Act” is a bill focused on tightening up emergency communications and giving proper recognition to the people who answer the call when things go sideways. Think of it as an operational upgrade for the country’s 911 infrastructure and the staff behind it.

The After-Action Report for Telecoms

This bill drops a new requirement on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) after a major disaster. If the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS)—the government’s way of tracking network outages during a crisis—is active for seven days or more, the FCC must hold at least one public hearing every year about that event. This isn’t a small meeting; the FCC has to invite everyone from local first responders and 911 directors to service providers, consumer advocates, and even electric utilities (SEC. 2). Within 120 days of that hearing, the FCC then has to publish a report detailing the number and length of outages for broadband and mobile services, how many users were affected, and, crucially, any outages that prevented 911 centers from getting essential caller location data (SEC. 2. Post-Hearing Report).

What does this mean for you? If you’ve ever lost cell service during a major storm or wildfire, this section aims to prevent that from happening again by forcing an accountable, public review of what went wrong. It puts the telecommunications companies on the hot seat, requiring them to participate in a public post-mortem. While the FCC won’t publish company-specific information, the pressure to improve network resilience will be very real, especially for those living in disaster-prone areas.

Better Alerts for 911 Centers

Beyond the hearings, the FCC has one year to investigate and report on how to improve outage reporting to 911 centers (SEC. 2. Improving How Outages Are Reported). The big idea here is whether it would help 911 dispatchers if service providers included visual information—like maps—in their outage alerts. Imagine a dispatcher trying to route help during a widespread outage; a map showing exactly where the network is down is far more useful than a text alert. The bill directs the FCC to balance the public safety benefit of these visual alerts against the “hassle or burden” for providers to create them. This is the classic policy tightrope walk: pushing for better safety tools without overburdening the industry.

Official Recognition for Dispatchers

One of the most immediate changes in the bill is a major win for Public Safety Telecommunicators—the 911 dispatchers. Within 30 days of the bill becoming law, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must officially categorize these dispatchers as a “protective service occupation” in the government’s job classification system (SEC. 3). Currently, they are often lumped into administrative or clerical categories, which doesn't reflect the life-saving medical instructions and critical information gathering they do. This reclassification is about more than just a title; it acknowledges the critical, first-line role these professionals play in protecting both the public and first responders in the field.

Checking Up on Multi-Line Phone Systems

Finally, the bill requires the FCC to check its own homework regarding multi-line phone systems, like those used in offices, hotels, or large apartment buildings. Specifically, it demands a report within 180 days on how well manufacturers and vendors are complying with an existing law (Karis Law) that ensures 911 calls from these systems correctly route and provide accurate location information (SEC. 4). This matters if you work in a large office building. The goal is to make sure that if you dial 911 from your desk phone, the dispatcher knows exactly which floor and room you’re calling from, instead of just getting the main building address.