The Southside City Council voted to transfer dispatching duties to the Etowah County Communication District — a move that should shave precious minutes off the time it takes to get help on the way in an emergency.
“The move is an attempt to reduce response time by removing a redundant step in the call-taking process,” Southside Fire Chief Wade Buckner said.
Currently, the chief said, when someone in Southside calls 911, the call goes to the Etowah County 911 Center, where dispatchers determine what the emergency is and nature of the call, and get the caller’s information. Then the call is transferred to Southside, where Buckner said the call-taking process starts over again…
Redcom dispatcher William Buck was nearly eight hours into a 12-hour shift on June 29 when he took a 911 call about an unconscious 12-year-old boy in Santa Rosa.
He collected information for paramedics to reach the child before instructing an older sister on how to perform CPR. As he passed along directions to the sister his colleagues in the Santa Rosa dispatch center listened intently.
Paramedics soon arrived and Buck turned the case over to their care. Ending the call, he pushed back his desk chair and stood for a moment to gather his thoughts as the room fell silent. His brief pause were the only signs…
Joanie Best believes she was made to be an emergency services dispatcher. And now she believes the years she’s spent building a career in that difficult field has made her a perfect choice to lead Crawford County into its 911 consolidation process.
“I love it. Dispatch is me. And for 12 years it’s been me,” said Best. “If I had a chance to work overtime, I was there. I love being in the thick of it.”
Best jumped back into the thick of it on June 28 when she was hired as Crawford County’s 911 Communications Director…
A longtime Cambria County 911 employee is retiring to embark on the next chapters of her life.
Robbin Melnyk, 56, retired as the county’s 911 coordinator and Department of Emergency Services deputy director earlier this month to focus more on her family and educating new dispatchers across the state.
Melnyk started her career in 1986 at the Mainline Police Dispatch Center in the basement of the county courthouse. She also worked part-time for the Richland Police Dispatch Center until 1992, when the county merged three centers, including the two she worked for, to create the county-wide dispatch center…
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
