A long-term process to replace the Columbia 9-1-1 Communication District’s 20-year old aging radio system is slowly proceeding. The system utilizes 12 land towers anchored in various points across Columbia County and two towers in Washington state. But over the years,...

Breadcrumb Trail Links News Local News The fire departments in North Perth, Perth East, West Perth and St. Marys will be transferring their emergency dispatching services from the Stratford Fire Department to the Owen Sound Emergency Communications Centre beginning Jan. 5, 2022. Author of the article: Galen Simmons Postmedia file photo Article content Four Perth County fire departments will be transferring their 911 dispatch services from Stratford’s fire department to the Owen Sound Emergency Communications Centre next year. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The Perth East, West Perth, North Perth and St. Marys fire departments, which, together, roughly serve most of Perth County except Stratford – recently inked a five-year-agreement with Owen Sound police for emergency dispatch services through its emergency communications centre, which currently handles 911 calls in Grey-Bruce and dispatch duties for seven police and 27 fire agencies across Bruce, Grey and Huron counties. A combined request for proposals for the four departments was issued earlier this year since the existing agreement with the Stratford Fire Department was set to expire. The Owen Sound bid was “the successful proposal,” said Bill Hunter, the chief of the West Perth and Perth East fire departments. “It’s just a really good, all-around proposal with respect to staffing, services provided … the infrastructure they would provide and backup systems,” Hunter said. “Their proposal was a very all-encompassing proposal. It took us quite a while to evaluate all the proposals, but Owen Sound had probably the best for the residents in our area.” One of the main demands was the provision of next-generation 911 (NG911) services, a new technological requirement from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for all cellular service providers and emergency dispatchers that needs to be in place by June 2023. This new technology, North Perth fire Chief Janny Pape said, helps dispatchers “better pinpoint” the “absolute locations of callers.” Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content “That’s something that Owen Sound Police is already on,” Pape said. “They’ve got the infrastructure to do it and, so when we went out to (the request for proposals), that was a big component of it.” The Owen Sound communications centre is also staffed with a team of trained dispatchers who can handle everything from communicating directly with commanders on the ground to recording and compiling necessary details and benchmark data needed for post-incident reports to the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal. “Right now, because this is a volunteer service, the first firefighter arriving at the station takes the radio, and that person is required to stay in our radio room for the duration of the call, and they communicate back and forth with on-scene command and also the dispatcher in Stratford,” Pape said. “That won’t be required anymore, so this means we can get more of our firefighters responding to the emergency rather than keeping one back.” Richard Anderson, the St. Marys fire chief, said communications during an actual emergency will be “a lot more streamlined.” “They will be able to record all the transmissions and such so we have an exact timeline of all my requests and all of my benchmarks, which are certain things fire chiefs need to achieve on the fire ground. And then once that is all gathered and the event has been completed, I’ll be able to populate it right back into out FirePro program … and then we can send our report to the fire marshal’s office,” Anderson said. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content While the new agreement with Owen Sound is generally more expensive than what’s in place with the Stratford Fire Department, all three chiefs said the added benefits outweigh the extra cost. Roughly, the annual per-department cost in 2022 will be $48,000 for Perth East; $45,000 for North Perth; $31,000 for West Perth; and $30,000 for St. Marys. The calculation for these costs was based on each municipality’s population. While residents likely won’t see any impact from this Jan. 5, 2022, transition, those who have alarm companies that monitor their homes or businesses should notify those companies of the change and, if not yet updated, have them contact the appropriate fire department to obtain an emergency-dispatch phone number. Hunter emphasized the transition from using the Stratford dispatch to the Owen Sound Communications Centre was not a reflection of the services provided in the past. “We’re certainly not disappointed with Stratford’s service, but Stratford didn’t bid. … They didn’t put a submission in,” Hunter said. Stratford fire Chief John Paradis did not respond to a request for comment. gsimmons@postmedia.com Share this article in your social network Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Comments Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

SCARBOROUGH, Maine (WABI) - Not every 9-1-1 call has a happy ending, but this one in southern Maine certainly did. A Scarborough dispatcher is being credited for helping a family from Old Orchard Beach deliver a healthy baby boy. On Monday evening, Amanda Marden...

Detective Jimmy Martinez is one of many Tucson cops who work overtime as 911 operators. The practice helps PSCD keep up with calls and get to the most important ones as quickly as possible. City data shows the time it took for 911 operators to answer calls in Tucson...

WORCESTER, Mass. - Ernest Patient is a dispatch supervisor in the Worcester Emergency Communications Department. He says every 9-1-1 call a dispatcher answers is different. What You Need To Know Massachusetts dispatchers are considered clerical workers State lawmakers...

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Police Department's E911 Communications Center suffered a power outage on Monday. While operations were uninterrupted throughout the outage, this is the second incident to occur at the center within just as many weeks. Commanders moved operations...

The NSW Ambulance service has upgraded the Far West Project 25 ( P25) radio network with improved coverage and network performance for critical communication operations. NSW Ambulance has more than 6000 staff, including paramedics, doctors, nurses and corporate...

HILLSDALE, Mich. – Hillsdale County emergency dispatch needs improvements, but officials say the fixes won’t come cheap. The price tag? Potentially $ 12 million. Emergency Management Director Doug Sanford said the current equipment works but is very old. “Much of the...

DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. (WAFF) - After five decades, an outdated communications tower at the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office will soon be replaced thanks to half a million dollars in grant funding. During emergencies, first responders and law enforcement are the first ones to...

Recently, Sioux County Telecommunications Operator (Dispatcher), Kevin Harskamp, was a recipient of the Iowa Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Association’s Dispatcher of the Year Award. The award was a result of the nomination by members of the Sioux County EMS...

Sgt. Guy Kinney, a 911 dispatcher, works at the 911 dispatch centre at EPS Headquarters downtown Wednesday. Media was invited for a tour to inform the public about the "Curb the Danger" program. Photo by file photo /Postmedia An overflowing toilet does not warrant a...

The Town of Boone and Watauga County are among grant recipients recently announced by the N.C. Department of Information Technology. The N.C. 911 Board has approved $8.45 million in grants to 12 local public safety answering points and $6 million for three statewide...

Every second counts in an emergency. But with nearly 20 resignations dwindling the number of Erie County's 911 dispatchers since January, emergency response times could be markedly slower, according to the Erie County Department of Public Safety. A higher salary could...

METHUEN — Mayor Neil Perry and Chief Scott J. McNamara are pleased to announce that two new dispatchers graduated from the State 911 Department Public Safety Communications Academy and joined the Methuen Police Department.  Yenifer Cabreja and Larissa Alves both...

Budgewoi is one of 200 new and enhanced Public Safety Network (PSN) radio sites, increasing mission-critical communications coverage for first responders. Next to Australia’s triple zero emergency hotline, the PSN is the most critical communications network in NSW,...

Linda Pillow’s voice is low, calming, and steady. Many might call it “a voice in the dark.” And it’s a voice that very few people hope to hear.   “Nine-one-one. What is the location of your emergency?” asks Pillows.   After 15 years of such service to the community,...

PUEBLO — For police officers, dispatchers are the first line of contact to the public in an emergency. However, the dispatch center at the Pueblo Police Department is feeling the impacts of the nationwide staff shortage. "It's a difficult job. Some people just can't...

COLUMBUS – Governor Mike DeWine Monday announced the creation of a new state office that will focus on the well-being of first responders. The Office of First Responder Wellness, within the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Criminal Justice Services, will work...