Washington County, MD turns to FirstNet during critical incident response

By Lori Stone, Region III Lead, First Responder Network Authority

The Washington County Sheriff’s office is leading the nation on transforming public safety communications and is putting FirstNet to use serving rural communities. The agency was among the first in the nation – and the very first in the State of Maryland – to subscribe to the nationwide public safety broadband network.

The Sheriff’s office serves more than 150,000 residents across 458 square miles of Western Maryland. “Washington County is shaped very similar to the state of Maryland – it’s in an L-shape with the city of Hagerstown being kind of the hub in the center,” said Washington County Sheriff Doug Mullendore. “And, to respond from one area in the county to the next, even in an emergency situation, will be well over an hour.”