Casandra Reid, quality assurance training manager for Burke County EMS, has received the prestigious award of Trainer of The Year on May 5 from the North Carolina Association of Public Safety Communications Officials. SPECIAL TO THE NEWS HERALD Burke County Emergency...

With three vacancies, Lincoln County Communications found itself between a rock and hard a place in maintaining a fully staffed work schedule. To alleviate the staff shortage, Teamsters Local 340 and Lincoln County Communications Association reached an agreement with Lincoln County to temporarily modify their work schedules. The agreement calls for a modified schedule until July 2. According to the memorandum of understanding between the county and unions, communications officers will work three 12-hour shifts and one six-hour shift per week. Communications supervisors will work rotating 12-hour shifts of two days on, two days off and three days on. The third communications department vacancy occurred on May 5 with Pamela Reed’s retirement. Reed worked 21 years in the dispatcher’s job. With the MOU, County Administrator Carrie Kipfer praised the communications staff and unions for their flexibility in dealing with this labor crisis. “They agreed to temporarily relax the contract language to which I applaud them. They found a temporary solution which may be extended if it works out for the staff,” she said.  
During commissioners’ May 4 meeting, Kipfer informed commissioners about another development in the communications department. Kipfer and new Communications Director Tara Doe are considering contracting with Priority Dispatch to monitor quality control for emergency medical and fire response calls. The state used Priority Dispatch recently as its audit for monitoring local dispatch communications centers’ adherence to emergency protocols. This prompted county officials to wonder if a third party monitor would increase their department’s efficiency by freeing supervisors from their quality control call monitoring responsibilities.
“If we outsourced this to a company specializing in quality control then how much would it cost compared to the salary and benefits paid to a supervisor monitoring call quality,” Kipfer said. County officials researched the subject and discovered Priority Dispatch would cost around $35,000 per year or the equivalent of a part-time employee. The county would receive a 20% discount by committing to a three-year contract. County officials believe a third party call monitor would free up supervisors to spend more time receiving emergency calls and doing other administrative duties. Commissioners took no action on the proposal as Kipfer requested time to seek more information prior to submitting a proposal. 
Kipfer reported Lincoln County’s share of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan will be received sometime during the next two weeks. Lincoln County’s share is $6,776,899 and towns will divide another $3,452,841. County officials are still waiting for the U.S. Treasury to provide them with guidelines for spending the money. Kipfer told commissioners she wants to work with local and regional groups in devising a plan for the stimulus funds. She is a member of Maine County Commissioners’ Association and Maine Municipal Association. Kipfer reported both groups support working together toward leveraging the funds to expand the local impact. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. It’s important to identify our needs, first, and make a good decision,” she said.
The meeting ended with two executive sessions. In the first session, commissioners met with an attorney to discuss a recent personnel issue. Commissioners reconvened and voted to retain an independent investigator for the issue. In the second session, commissioners took no action in another, unrelated personnel matter. Commissioners meet next at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 17 at the Lincoln County Regional Planning Office in Wiscasset.

CLEVELAND (WJW) — The FOX 8-TEAM is investigating a series of punishments handed out to dispatchers in the Cleveland 911 Center including one caught sleeping on the job repeatedly. Records show a Cleveland Police dispatcher got fired this week after getting written up...

DRACUT – Some serious, must-fix issues with the new $4.3 million Regional Emergency Dispatch Center are in the process of resolution, according to Dracut Police Chief Peter Bartlett.The new dispatch center is located in Tewksbury, and the two towns have been sharing its capabilities since it was declared fully operational in November.
However, there have been some “growing pains,” Bartlett said.
He has been working with center Executive Director Kevin Lessard to identify and resolve issues. The center is an independent entity operating separately from either town.
Some issues involve equipment, which is being replaced as needed. And other issues involve the stress of merging two different operations.
“It was a big change with the new computer system and new dispatching system,” Bartlett said in a report to selectmen.
“It is imperative that we solve this. It just has to happen,” he added.
One example that Bartlett cited was a 15-minute cell tower outage in town caused by a generator breaking down. Working with Boston Area Police Emergency Radio Networks, the department was able to quickly reroute calls over a different communications channel. It took time to replace the generator, but in the meantime 911 calls got through.
Bartlett said a new cell tower is going up in Pelham and that  should provide redundancy in the future. Right now, the FCC is reviewing the tower plan.
In addition to equipment issues, the dispatch team is primarily made up of Tewksbury’s dispatchers. They were offered a transfer to the new center and took it as a unit. Dracut has just a few dispatchers in the new center, although they too were offered a transfer.
This apparent imbalance caused confusion in cases where similarly named thoroughfares are involved – Varnum Avenue and Varnum Road, for example, Bartlett said.
Also, the chief noted that “shorthand references” to places can cause confusion. If a Dracut dispatcher gets a call for the “Education Complex” the location will be readily apparent, but not so if a Tewksbury dispatcher gets the call.
Early issues involving Dracut High School’s ability to call outside the building in an emergency situation has been rectified, Bartlett said.
When the center was being planned, Lowell public safety officials were part of the discussion. Ultimately, Lowell dispatchers opposed the city’s inclusion for the same of the very same issues Bartlett referred to.
Dracut Town Manager Ann Vandal has told selectmen she is working with center officials and Tewksbury Town Manager Richard Montouri to address the all issues.

BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - Botetourt County Fire-EMS is now using a new and improved Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) software. Dispatchers at the Emergency Communications Center (ECC) are using this software because it helps them ask the right questions and send...

The The Maricopa Police Department's current headquarters in the city center complex opened in 2013.The City of Maricopa may close its in-town Emergency Communication Center and contract with the City of Chandler to handle 9-1-1 calls and police and fire dispatch....

LISBON — Mixed reactions from fire and police chiefs have yet again halted a decision on a consolidated 911 dispatching center for the county. County commissioner Tim Weigle brought the issue before the 911 emergency services committee during its Thursday meeting,...

UNION COUNTY, NJ — The county will expand its Emergency Services Regional Dispatch Center in Westfield, allowing more towns the option to use its services for fire, EMS, mutual aid and first responders. At Thursday’s virtual Board of County Commissioners meeting,...

With goals of providing better help for people experiencing mental health crises in Baltimore and freeing up more time for police officers to tackle crime and build connections in the community, the city and a nonprofit organization will soon send some 911 calls to...

Jasper County Sheriff Mitchel Newman cut the ribbon on Friday, officially opening a new 911 dispatch facility that sports his name. The “Sheriff Mitchel Newman Law Enforcement Communication Center” has been built on the north side of the Sheriff’s Department, and in...

CINCINNATI (FOX19) - The 911 dispatchers who answer more than a thousand emergency calls daily across Hamilton County and then quickly relay that critical information to police and fire crews so they can respond are working “crazy amounts” of mandatory overtime to...

Crestwood and Sunset Hills may be sister cities, but the cities’ aldermen had opposite reactions to a proposal for Sunset Hills to provide 911 dispatching for Crestwood. The Crestwood Board of Aldermen gave the police dispatching agreement unanimous preliminary...