by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 8, 2021 | Comm Center News
FAIRMONT — Marion County residents can now report an emergency by texting 911 instead of making a phone call.
The Text-to-911 service was first available to a limited number of cities across the country in 2014. Since that time, the service has become more widely available, and software developers have combined other emergency services into an all encompassing platform.
Director of Marion County Department of Homeland Security Chris McIntire worked with Zuercher Technologies LLC, to implement the technology here. The system cost Marion County around $180,000…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 8, 2021 | Comm Center News
The union that represents E-Comm 911-Dispatcher says the emergency services are facing a major staff shortage and warns that the system is ill-prepared for a major crisis.
BC’s emergency communications experts, CUPE Local 8911, said in a statement that people calling e-comm dispatchers should be connected within five seconds or less for an emergency call, 10 seconds or less for a police emergency call, and three minutes or less less for a police non-emergency call.
However, the lack of staff means that the waiting times for police emergency calls in some cases exceed 20 minutes and the waiting times for non-emergencies exceed five hours…
by ECC Editor | Nov 8, 2021 | Comm Center News
KINGSTON – In the upcoming 2022 budget, Ulster County Executive Patrick Ryan is proposing a centralized emergency response center to help with 911 emergencies and non-emergencies.
“Think of this as the central nervous system for emergency response,” said Ryan. “It will also have the ability for our residents to call for non-emergency services, whether they need heating assistance or they need child support services. If they have issues about paving on a county road.”
Ryan expects the center to cost at least $10 million, and when completed by 2024, it will provide for coordinated responses to all types of calls and be more efficient for county taxpayers… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 8, 2021 | Comm Center News
Emergency communications specialist Nicholas Genchi mans his station in the Flagstaff Police Departments Dispatch Center Wednesday afternoon.
BRADY WHEELER
Sun Staff Reporter
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck and stay-at-home orders swept across the country, thousands of northern Arizona workers were sent home. But at the Flagstaff Police Department, 911 dispatchers continued to show up — even when the going got rough.
Now, more than 20 months into the pandemic, Flagstaff police officials are reflecting on a tumultuous period of dispatch operations that were anything but ordinary. From ongoing staffing concerns to navigating the changing public health landscape, long hours and mandatory overtime were an unavoidable reality…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 8, 2021 | Comm Center News
Angie Hadley believes she remembers her first emergency dispatch call.
She remembers the caller being angry – she believes about fireworks going off – and cussing her out over the noise.
Hadley was not a full-time employee for the City of Shelbyville at the time. She started helping out after hearing that help was needed.
But that initial experience didn’t faze her from continuing on her path of becoming a dispatcher, later earning a full-time job…
by AllThingsECC.com | Nov 8, 2021 | Comm Center News
In an emergency, every minute counts.
That’s why leaders in Asheville and Buncombe County are considering coordinating their emergency dispatch services to improve response time and provide more consistent and effective service delivery.
During their meeting of Tuesday, Nov. 9, Asheville City Council will consider an agreement with the county that would consolidate the two jurisdictions’ 911 dispatch offices starting Saturday, Jan.1.
According to a staff report, Buncombe County’s 911 dispatch office currently receives calls for all fire departments in the county (including the Asheville Fire Department), Emergency Medical Services, Black Mountain and Montreat police departments and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department…
