by ECC Editor | Mar 30, 2022 | Comm Center News
(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) Slowly but surely, the Communications Center is filling the dispatcher holes.
The St. Joseph Police Department hired six new communications operators in January but is still looking to hire two more.
Captain John Olszowka says it is imperative for the city to bring in two more members to the team so the community will no longer be at risk hearing “please hold” over the phone when calling 911.
“It’s huge for the community. Well, when I only have three operators working on answering the phones and someone else’s call is first, you call 911 and get a recorded voice saying, ‘please standby,’ that’s not good for the community,” said Cpt. John Olszowka who is the Communications Center Manager “So if we can get our staffing back up, it makes it easier on everybody… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Mar 30, 2022 | Comm Center News
Bayham council discussed the following during a Thursday, March 3 meeting:
Councillors gave the go ahead for the $11,935 purchase of a new HVAC system for the Straffordville Library.
The budgeted item was to replace the 30-year-old existing system. Following the tendering process, manager of public works Steve Adams recommended the higher bid from Koolen Electric because the ERV unit with the bid was higher quality to deal with stale air in the basement.
All three bids submitted were below the $15,000 budget… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Mar 29, 2022 | Comm Center News
WASHINGTON COUNTY, MN — A Washington County 911 telecommunicator who answered as a Wisconsin mother was giving birth in her car in Woodbury last week is being lauded by the county’s sheriff.
Vicki Herrmann picked up the phone when Baily Bieniek-Phelps and her husband, Tim, called 911 around 11 p.m. March 20 from the Interstate 94 off-ramp for Radio Drive and Inwood Avenue.
“Even though the baby was already ‘out,’ Vicki was ready to help,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post, crediting Herrmann for calmly walking Tim through “how to tie off the umbilical cord using a shoelace… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Mar 29, 2022 | Comm Center News
CANTON – Dial 911 on your cellphone in Canton earlier this month and you’d talk to a second dispatcher before police or firefighters could head your way.
Cellphone-placed emergency calls in the city were answered by Stark County dispatchers and then transferred to city dispatchers. The process often meant the caller had to repeat the information and calls could get dropped during the transfer.
And with an estimated 80% of emergency calls coming in from cellphones, dispatchers were transferring many calls.
Now, the vast majority of 911 cellphone calls in the city go directly into the Canton’s emergency communications center or CanCom… READ MORE
by ECC Editor | Mar 29, 2022 | Comm Center News
he Owensboro-Daviess County 911 Oversight Board has approved a plan that will cut out significant time between when an alarm goes off and the time a first responder is dispatched, said Paul Nave, director of the dispatch center.
He said the new ASAP to PSAP program should be operational by mid-April.
The initials stand for “Automated Secure Alarm Protocol” and “Public Safety Answering Point.”
Nave said that if an alarm — burglar, fire or any other type — is attached to the system, “when the alarm goes off, it comes into the 911 center, and we immediately dispatch police, fire or ambulance, depending on the type of alarm. There are no delays… READ MORE
