Until a few days ago, New Orleans’ 911 emergency dispatch system didn’t make a distinction between a robbery in progress and one that took place weeks ago.
But under a change that went into effect this weekend, the system will stop assigning old incidents the same priority designation it does for those that are still happening when the call is made.
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Sarah Hines is multi-lingual. English, of course. French. German. Japanese.
And, emergency dispatch.
When a red light flickers on, help is on the way.
All hours of the day and night at Island County Emergency Services Communications Center, a team of first responders dons headsets and waits before a veritable wall of computer monitors for a call of distress. These first responders are invisible at the scene of an emergency, but their steady voices are often the first ones to provide instruction and comfort to Island County residents facing dire situations.
This fall, the Seattle mayor’s office and city council have agreed to jointly create a new type of crisis response unit to be available when people call 911.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors has appointed Michele A. Surdam, who has served Prince William County for more than 30 years, to be the new Director of the Prince William County Department of Public Safety Communications.
