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APCO Seeks Comment on Incident Type Codes for Data Exchange (7/20/12)
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International is seeking comments on a candidate American National Standard (ANS) that identifies a list of common incident type codes for data exchange.

Candidate APCO ANS 2.103.1-201x focuses on providing a standardized list of incident type codes to facilitate effective incident exchange between next-generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) public-safety answering points (PSAPs) and other authorized agencies. The ability to efficiently share incident information between disparate PSAPs and other authorized agencies is a critical component of public-safety interoperability.

An agency that is receiving information about an incident must receive a basic level of incident classification to assure they understand the type of situation being handled. Creating a standardized incident type code list doesn’t mean that an agency must change the codes they use internally. The intent is to have each agency map its internal codes to the standardized list. No change in the agency’s internal process for incident entry will be necessary.

“A standardized list of common incident type codes is a significant step forward in facilitating effective data exchange between PSAPs who wish to share incident information,” said APCO International President Gregg Riddle. “As NG 9-1-1 systems deploy, data interoperability will become increasingly important.”

The draft standard can be downloaded for review here.

Comments must be submitted by Sept. 3 to standards@apcointl.org and should include the name of the standard, line number in question, existing text and proposed resolution.

Your comments are welcome, click here.