Advisory Council Strengthens Relationship Between OnStar, Public Safety Community

ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS (top row, left to right): Dr. Carol Cunningham, State Medical Director, OH; Eddie Reyes, Director, Prince William County, VA; Kimberly Burdick, Sheriff’s Dept., MT; Supt. Hugh Ferguson, Toronto Police Service; Chief Troy Cheseboro, DR Paramedic Service; Richard Ray, Co-Chair NENA (Bottom row, left to right): Cheryl Greathouse, Director, Georgia Public Safety Training Center; Persia Payne-Hurley, NC Emergency Mgmt.; Chief Elvin Barren, Southfield PD, MI; Deputy Chief Tom Clemo, Santa Monica Fire, CA; Asst. Deputy Chief, Ken Whetham, Oshawa Fire; Dr. Paul Stiegler, OnStar Medical Director

Cooperation. Collaboration. Building confidence and trust.

These are hallmarks of the daily interactions between OnStar Advisors and emergency personnel. They are also the foundation of the OnStar Public Safety Advisory Council, which meets three times a year to discuss the issues facing the public safety community and how OnStar can help address them. The council allows OnStar to engage with subject matter experts across the United States and Canada dedicated to shaping the emergency services offered in connected vehicles, while enhancing members’ experience and safety.

“We are looking to gain insight from subject matter experts — find out what’s important to them — and then put together policies, programs and procedures to assist them in keeping others safe,” says Char Poranganel, Global Outreach Leader for OnStar Emergency Services.

The council, made up of representatives from active law enforcement, EMS and fire, and crisis emergency management — as well as OnStar personnel — has been gathering since its inception in the summer of 2018, and doing so virtually since the pandemic began. “It’s a very open dialogue about the challenges they may be facing, and how that translates to the services we can provide,” Poranganel says.

To that end, OnStar will bring in guest speakers, such as members of its innovation team, to discuss products being developed and what, in the view of the council, may need to be considered before moving forward. When the OnStar Guardian app was introduced to the council, members emphasized how crucial it was for the mobile app to provide an accurate location, given that information could come from literally anywhere.

A topic that the council has covered in some depth is the emergence of Next Gen 911, in which Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) will be upgraded to a digital or Internet Protocol-based 911 system. This allows for data from incidents to be sent electronically, streamlining the transmission of information to the PSAP.

"The council is a very effective forum to keep that engagement with these important partners of ours,” says Poranganel.