by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 7, 2019 | Comm Center News
OTTAWA
COUNTY, MI—For those who work as 9-1-1 operators, it’s not a matter of
if they’re going to hear something traumatic, but when.
“Not
everybody can do this job,” said Megan Ross, who works as a dispatcher
for Ottawa County. “Some people can, some people can’t, and there’s no
middle ground. When we pick up the phone, we don’t know what we’re going
to get.”
Ross has spent the last 16 years working for Ottawa
County Central Dispatch, acting as the very first responder in countless
emergencies. She said when you’re taking hundreds of calls a day like
that, resilience is the key to being good at the job
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by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 7, 2019 | Comm Center News
Four new Anoka County Central
Communications dispatcher positions were unanimously approved the Anoka
County Board July 23 in response to a spike in 911 calls this year.
According
to Dee Guthman, deputy county administrator, dispatchers are dealing
with a very high volume of calls right now, and more dispatchers are
needed immediately to deal with them.
The
county has not increased the central communications dispatcher staffing
in at least four years, Guthman told the management committee..
In an interview, Guthman said call volumes through the end of June are 14,000 more than in the same period a year ago.
There are currently 36 dispatchers in the central communications department who work 12-hour shifts.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 7, 2019 | Comm Center News
The Scott County Board of Supervisors
will vote Thursday on an amendment to the 2020 budget to reflect
changes resulting from the radio infrastructure project’s bond issuance.
David
Farmer, the county’s budget and administrative services director, told
the board Tuesday the recommended amendment is to recognize the issuance
of debt for the 911 radio infrastructure project as well as the use of
bond proceeds to be paid out to reimburse Scott Emergency Communications
Center, or SECC, for the project’s costs. The amendment also includes
changes stemming from the refinancing of 2009 debt as part of the
financing package.
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by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 7, 2019 | Comm Center News
The Lockport police officers union is expected to urge the Common
Council today to spend $272,000 to upgrade the police department’s radio
equipment and keep dispatching in-house.
City leaders for weeks
have discussed whether to let Lockport Police Department continue to
handle its own dispatching or have LPD utilize Niagara County’s dispatch
center. Should LPD join the county’s center, the city could either
carve out a separate frequency for LPD or utilize a shared frequency,
which is used by every law enforcement agency in the county except
Niagara Falls Police Department.
Read More…
by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 7, 2019 | Comm Center News
Cost-of-living raises for 171 employees
in three labor unions that will cost the city of Great Falls $480,676
over two years were approved Tuesday by the City Commission.
“We are set for another two years in our bargaining process here,” said Gaye McInerney, human resources director.
The two-year agreement calls for a 2.5 percent salary increase in the first year, and a 2.75 percent increase in the second year, for general members of the union. Emergency Communications Center members will 2.75 percent pay increases for each year of the contract. The salary increases to the city is about $170,366.
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