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This is a challenging year for tech companies, especially for entrepreneurs seeking funding for their next phase of growth. According to Pitchbook, VC funding was down 8% in the first six months of the year, driven by the sliding shares of mature tech companies. The NASDAQ composite index is down close to 25% through September. And yet, despite the liquidity crunch, Carbyne secured $56 million to invigorate the public safety industry with modern cloud-native technology.

While many of us realize the toll suicide and mental health take on our communities, the numbers are truly eye-opening. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over 1 million people per year attempt suicide, over 3 million make a plan for suicide, and over 12 million seriously think about suicide. To provide a more personalized response to them, and to improve overall 9-1-1 emergency call handling capacity, starting on July 16, 2022, the 9-8-8 hotline goes live. 9-8-8 is more than just a number.  It is a framework that implements community based care by giving people in an emergency mental health crisis someone to call, someone to respond, and somewhere to go, leveraging an emergency response platform.

I first visited the Orleans Parish Communications District in October 2017. That’s when I met their fearless leader, Executive Director Tyrell Morris, MBA CPE. I knew from that first encounter he was a strong, innovative leader and I wanted to stay connected. In December 2019, I had the privilege of attending the inaugural Communications Executive Leadership Academy hosted by Director Morris at OPCD. It was during that week I had many personal and professional breakthroughs. That week I set my intentions and made a goal to have professional growth within two years. I didn’t know where I would be, but I knew I wanted to ascend. Exactly two years later, I left the 9-1-1 center I grew up in for an opportunity to join Carbyne who was busy disrupting the industry! It was serendipitous that the universe saw fit for OPCD to be my first official customer, and I got to be part of the elite team that, under Director Morris’ leadership, launched Carbyne APEX at OPCD on June 24, 2022.

While Hurricane Katrina left an indelible mark on all its survivors, the call-takers and dispatchers who heroically fielded 9-1-1 calls during the ordeal were forced to hear the nonstop sounds of fear turning into panic, which time may never fully heal. And while many moons have elapsed since those harrowing days, based on NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) data from the past quarter century, the likelihood of New Orleans experiencing a tropical cyclone in any given year is pegged at a staggering 92%. It’s not a question of “if” the 9-1-1 capabilities of New Orleans will be tested to their limits again, it is a question of “when”.

Funding the critical technology needs of our public safety heroes is more important than ever. In recognition of this need, federal and state governments are increasing funds to revolutionize mission critical technology including some of the best emergency medical services software in the U.S. Following the pandemic, government agencies accelerated their efforts to enhance critical response solutions and infrastructure to modernize public safety communication management. In fact in May ’22, the Biden administration announced $10 Billion towards public safety related improvements. Furthermore, bipartisan legislation in the works allocates approximately $2.2 Billion for 9-8-8 and mental health emergency response across America. As a result, more and more agencies using public safety call center software around the nation no longer have to choose between the solutions they want and the solutions they can afford.

What does safety mean to us as corporate leaders? I sometimes ask myself this question and am intrigued by the myriad of meanings that come to mind. We all want safety for our family, friends, neighbors and colleagues. We want safety for our country, and we want safety for the world. And while governmental agencies offer public safety services such as emergency calling and response, what about the millions of private sector organizations employing billions of people globally? How can corporate leaders help and support the effort of making the earth a safer place to live?

Imagine the following scene in your mind’s eye. A concerned citizen dials 911 for a man walking down the sidewalk talking to himself, he seems angry and aggressive to the caller.  The 911 call taker processes the necessary information including location, name, phone number, subject description, age, race, sex, height, hair color, and eye color. They assess whether there are weapons, drugs or alcohol involved and if the subject seems to be a harm to himself or others.  After processing this information, they assign a code to the call and dispatch police fire or ems and move on to the next call.  For our 911 call takers using some of the best emergency medical services software in the US, this is standard practice.  However for the man walking down the street, what happens next could be life-altering.  This man is sixteen times more likely to die upon interaction with law enforcement due to possible mental illness.

On May 14, 2018, a young biology teacher named Marcus-David Peters who was experiencing a mental health crisis lost his life in a subsequent violent encounter with the Richmond Police. In his memory, the Marcus-David Peters Act went into law across Virginia in 2020. Thus the Marcus Alert was born, which enhances mental health services for people experiencing a crisis related to substance abuse, developmental disability, or mental health. For responders coming to the aid of these callers, using some of the best emergency medical services software solutions can provide critical situational awareness prior to arrival which can deliver happier outcomes. This situational awareness can be in the form of live caller video, pinpoint caller location, silent instant messaging, and more, especially since such technologies are second nature to today’s generation.

The public safety world is unique in many ways. Success is measured by lives saved while standard business ROI metrics are secondary. Trust is earned primarily through a track record of reliability. Employees always feel a real sense of pride in what they do and everyone you meet seems to have 30 years of experience in the industry.

When we experience the unthinkable, we know to call 9-1-1 to summon emergency response services, whether they be police officers, firefighters, or paramedics. However we often don’t realize that one of the key challenges our heroes in uniform face when responding to our emergencies is inadequate situational awareness, such as: Knowing where an active shooter is at any given moment; seeing the extent of a fire engulfing a building; and visually assessing the distress a choking child is experiencing can transform the situational awareness for field responders so they can provide better emergency response when we need it most.