Phoenix dispatchers to get a “quiet room”
The Phoenix Police Department announced that they would dedicate a new “quiet room” for dispatchers to help them deal with the stress of the job
Text to 9-1-1 service now ready in 10 East Texas Counties
East Texas Council of Governments’ Regional 9-1-1 Program is pleased to announce the availability of Text to 9-1-1 service in Anderson, Camp, Cherokee, Gregg, Marion, Panola, Rains, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood Counties. Text to 9-1-1 is a service that allows citizens to send a text message directly to 9-1-1 for assistance in the event they are unable to make a voice call.
“To ensure the new service functions properly in our 9-1-1 district, our process was to drive the ETCOG region and test Text to 9-1-1 with the four major wireless carriers: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon,” said ETCOG’s Director of Public Safety, Stephanie Heffner. “Once that process was completed, we conducted training with our 9-1-1 call centers. We are now making efforts to inform the public that Text to 9-1-1 is available for use.”
DC 911 director still claiming a 4 minute dispatch time is good for deadly fire
This is one of those days when I have to question if Rod Serling is not lurking out there and I’ve crossed over into the “Twilight Zone”. I just read in the newspaper of record for the Nation’s Capital that a DC police officer telling a dispatcher there’s a fire at a specific location isn’t enough information to immediately dispatch fire and EMS. Instead of sending the DC Fire & EMS Department right away, the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) needed four-minutes and one-second to process that call. The OUC director, Karima Holmes, told The Washington Post that an internal review shows this call, where two people died, was handled well.
Phoenix 911 dispatchers to get new quiet room
Emergency dispatchers in Phoenix who handle 911 calls will have a place to decompress. The Phoenix Police Department on Tuesday will dedicate a new “quiet room” for 911 operators. Police Chief Jeri Williams and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego will be on hand for the ceremony.
Emergency services dispatchers honored
CUMBERLAND — As much of the United States observed Patriot Day, a national day to honor victims of the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, local emergency communication dispatchers were honored Tuesday in a separate ceremony to highlight the essential role they play in emergency services.
In October 1986, Congress approved a law designating September 11 as 9-1-1 Emergency Number Day.
In recognition of the emergency number system and the dispatchers dedicated to the critical public service, Allegany County observes the date to honor Joint Communications Center staff.
911 Board proposes a new service plan to the county
BRANCH COUNTY — The Branch County 911 Central Dispatch Board has approved and sent to the County Commission a proposed new Service Agreement to operate the consolidated emergency communications for all of the counties.
The 911 board has chaffed at the county’s control over salaries for dispatchers which it believes has to lead to the high turnover of newly trained dispatchers and long term employees who left for other positions.
The county’s two-tier hiring program has starting dispatcher salaries at $14.23 an hour compared to $17.22 an hour in Steuben County, Ind. the next lowest in the region. In July the turn over got so great there were five vacancies among the 11 positions which forced overtime and employee burnout.
