by AllThingsECC.com | Dec 11, 2019 | Comm Center News
Lake Mary, Fla.,
Dec. 10, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CentralSquare, the leading provider
of public safety and public administration software in North America,
announced its ongoing support of the emergency dispatch program at
Warren Tech, a career and technical education center for high school
students in the Jefferson County School District in Colorado.
CentralSquare has donated the computer aided dispatch (CAD) software
that powers Warren Tech’s dispatch lab, a training room equipped with 20
dispatch consoles for students to practice, train and put their skills
to use.
“We’re grateful that CentralSquare has committed the
resources we need to make sure that our program remains top notch and
equipped with the technology that many of our graduates will encounter
in their careers moving forward,” said Nanci Tatum, an Association of
Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO)-certified trainer and
Warren Tech’s emergency dispatch program instructor.
According to the National Emergency Number Association,
an estimated 240 million calls are made to 911 and routed through
approximately 8,900 dispatch centers across the U.S. every year. At the
end of the phone line is a citizen seeking immediate, life-saving help.
Training programs like the one at Warren Tech prepare its graduates to
successfully transition into a career in emergency dispatch by giving
them intensive, hands-on training in call taking, dispatching, geography
and mapping, stress management and more.
“Our graduates are
great assets to communications centers because of the training we
provide at Warren Tech,” adds Tatum. “They’re going into the field fully
prepared, which helps the centers – many of which are facing staffing
shortages – onboard new staff much more quickly and at less cost.”
Eligible
to enroll in the program during their senior year of high school,
students learn on the same CentralSquare software that many Denver-area
agencies currently use, including Adams County Communications Center,
Jefferson County E911 Authority and South Metro Fire, among others.
Using the software, students are able to act as both the person calling
911 and the dispatcher responding. Upon graduation, students will have
had 540 hours of instruction and hands-on training, which includes guest
instruction from area agencies. They earn free college credit and
industry certifications, including the APCO certification, upon passing
the certification test with at least an 80 percent.
The Wall Street Journal has reported
that U.S. regulators estimate as many as 10,000 lives could be saved
every year by reducing 911 response times by just one minute. This makes
clear the need for dispatch centers to be staffed by qualified and
highly skilled personnel who are able to thrive amidst the challenges of
a stressful work environment.
“Dispatchers are uniquely
positioned to touch the lives of people during what could be very
stressful or even tragic situations,” adds Tatum. “As a former
dispatcher myself, I’m proud to be able to educate and nurture the
future generation so that the impression we make in those situations,
big or small, is always positive.”
by AllThingsECC.com | Dec 11, 2019 | Comm Center News
Police in Montgomery County, Maryland say a 911 call-taker
“misunderstood the caller” Friday night when firefighters were sent to
the wrong address for a report of a house fire. The Montgomery County
Police Department operates the Emergency Communications Center (ECC) and
issued a statement today (Monday) about the error. Two people and a dog
were still in the home when firefighters arrived to handle a small
bedroom fire. The original erroneous location is about ten miles from
the home where the fire occurred.
Some things to note in the statement below. It took the ECC two to three minutes to dispatch the original call to the wrong location. NFPA standards say the call processing for this type of incident should be handled within 60-seconds, 90 percent of the time. The statement does not indicate if there were other cues missed that could have corrected the erroneous dispatch earlier.
Read More….
by AllThingsECC.com | Dec 11, 2019 | Comm Center News
KUNA — The Ada County Sheriff’s
Office last year fell short of its target goals on several metrics,
including the percentage of 911 calls answered in 10 seconds or less.
But the average patrol response time to critical emergencies in Kuna is
down from last year, despite a countywide increase.
That’s
according to an annual report on fiscal year 2018, which Kuna Police
Chief Jon McDaniel presented at a Dec. 3 Kuna City Council meeting.
The Ada County Sheriff’s Office provides contract policing to the city of Kuna.
Three-quarters of calls last year to the Ada County 911 Communications Center, its dispatch center, were answered in 10 seconds or less, the report says. That’s up 1% from 2017, but it falls well short of the county’s goal of 90%.
Read More….
by AllThingsECC.com | Dec 11, 2019 | Comm Center News
BERKELEY SPRINGS — The Morgan County Commission voted unanimously
this week to purchase a number of portable radios for emergency
responders and law enforcement and new equipment for its 911 Center.
The
10-year lease from Motorola Soluation, worth $2.5 million at 2.93%
interest, purchases six dispatch consoles ($675,000), computer–aided
dispatch (CAD) software and computer equipment ($544,000), a call-taking
station ($483,000) and radios ($1.2 million before a “bundling”
discount of $414,570 for 157 portable radios, 74 mobile radio units and
two control stations).
An $800,000 down payment on the grand total of $2,502,500 will be applied, and an annual payment of $198,871 will be made beginning with FY 2020-2021. The lease includes a service plan with a refresh in equipment in five or six years.
Read More….
by AllThingsECC.com | Dec 11, 2019 | Comm Center News
“This morning at approximately 6:20 am, during a semi-annual fire
alarm system test at the E911 Center, there was an accidental discharge
of the FM-200 Fire Suppression system.
Out of an
abundance of caution, EMS and Fire responded to the scene. Five
employees were assessed at local medical facilities and were released
without incident.
There was no disruption to 911 communications during the incident. Staff was able to transfer calls and dispatch to an unaffected part of the building until the backup center could be brought on line at an alternate location.”
Read More….
by AllThingsECC.com | Dec 11, 2019 | Comm Center News
CHICOPEE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) — Starting Tuesday, a new emergency
dispatch center will be serving the town of Longmeadow and city of
Chicopee.
It’s called the WESTCOMM regional emergency communication center.
Starting
December 10, a new dispatch center in Chicopee will be receiving all
911 calls made in the city, plus the town of Longmeadow.
“It’s a cost effective way to get the information out to
the police and fire departments from doing it in one area,” said Erin
Hastings, executive director of WESTCOMM RECC.
Hastings told Western Mass News they are able to receive grants from the state 911 department.
Read More….
