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West Allis says new local 911 dispatch and RapidSOS integration will speed emergency response
Summary
The West Allis 4th Court Neighborhood Partnership meeting heard from Doreen Glatner, 911 center manager, on the city’s move to handle its own 911 calls and integrate location technologies such as RapidSOS into its CAD to reduce transfer delays and shorten CPR response times.
West Allis officials told residents that the city has begun taking its own 911 calls and integrating advanced location tools into its dispatch system to shorten transfer delays and improve responder location accuracy.
Doreen Glatner, manager of the West Allis 911 Center, described changes in the technology that allow dispatchers to see precise caller location, including vertical (z-axis) data and RapidSOS feeds that map a caller’s position directly into the department’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. "For every 10 minutes, you leave a person with no pulse or not breathing, you reduce their likelihood of survival by 10%," Glatner said, explaining why reducing transfer time matters for CPR and other life‑saving instructions.
Glatner reviewed the evolution of 911 technology from the 1960s through the shift from landline routing to cellular calls, including the role of master street address guides (MSAGs) and the difficulty posed by calls that previously routed to neighboring county dispatch centers. She said West Allis decided in February 2024 to take its own 911 calls to avoid the triage-and-transfer delays that have, in some cases, cost critical time in medical emergencies.
She showed the dispatcher view used in the CAD, noting latitude/longitude and, when available, altitude data that can help pinpoint a caller inside a multistory building. Glatner also described how RapidSOS integrates additional device data into the dispatch display so that moving callers can be tracked more precisely.
City staff answered residents’ questions after the presentation about how the new tools work in practice. Glatner and staff said the upgrades are live and are intended to reduce call transfers, shorten the time to begin CPR instructions when appropriate, and improve unit routing for emergency medical and fire response.
Officials invited questions and said they will continue community outreach as the system is used more widely.
