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Overhead view of a Maine FirstNet cell tower in a rural area surrounded by trees.

Maine is undertaking a statewide project to install FirstNet in all its ambulances — to keep them connected and communicating wherever the call takes them. Integrating FirstNet into ambulances improves pre-hospital care and safety for patients, responders, vehicles, and roads.

A law enforcement officer with a shoulder mic talking on a smartphone

Wherever law enforcement officers work, they need fast and reliable connectivity. One of the most important innovations for public safety communications is 5G. With 5G, wireless connectivity can move more data at greater speeds in near real time. 5G will have a big impact on the ability of officers to do their jobs safely and efficiently.

Silhouette of five fighters walking through a forest fire with orange smoke and flames

Firefighters need specialized communication tools when battling wildland fires, especially when they threaten wildland urban interfaces. FirstNet was designed for public safety operations and has unique tools for fighting fires in the wildland urban interface, including versatile deployables and high-power user equipment.

The 5x5 logo: “The Public Safety Innovation Summit.” The NIST logo and the FirstNet Authority logo.

This June in Chicago, Illinois, two agencies within the U.S. Department of Commerce are coming together to advance communications technology for public safety. FirstNet Authority and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Public Safety communication Research Division (NIST PSCR) will host the second annual 5x5: The Public Safety Innovation Summit, where leaders in public safety, government, industry, and academia will collaborate to build the future of public safety technology.

A FirstNet SatCOLT set up along a rural street on a foggy day.

Grundy County, Illinois, is a rural community 45 minutes south of Chicago. Deputy Chief Kevin Bogard of the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office shared the unique challenges the county faces - including the annual Corn Festival, which brings in thousands of tourists – and how making the switch to FirstNet helped simplify and consolidate their communication technology.