Randolph County emergency services warns 911 center near staffing collapse

An unnamed Randolph County emergency services official told county commissioners Thursday that the county’s 911 communications center is operating with persistent understaffing and high turnover that, officials said, threatens the center’s ability to answer emergency calls.

“The status of the staffing of our 9 1 1 center” is the department’s “biggest concern,” the presenter said, adding that the center has been “in a constant cycle of being 1 or 2 staff members away from really being in trouble.”

That description came with detail: the presenter said each 12-hour shift is allocated nine telecommunicator positions but the four shifts routinely fall below the department’s stated minimum of six people. The presenter said the center was showing roughly seven vacancies at the time of the report, and that 3 of the 4 shifts lacked the minimum staffing level even if all scheduled employees were present.

The presenter told commissioners the 9-1-1 center’s turnover has been high over the past five years: about 50 percent of people hired during that period left before completing training. The department also has paid roughly $134,000 in salary and benefits for trainees who did not finish training, the presenter said.

Officials described the job’s training timeline and its effect on staffing: telecommunicator training typically takes six to nine months before an employee can work independently. The presenter said the job is stressful and that operating short increases stress and accelerates turnover. A slide summarized hours worked by staff and suggested some employees averaged about 2,600 hours a year — roughly 500 hours more than a standard 2,080-hour work year.

To address short-term gaps, the presenter described two private staffing options: a travel-dispatcher model that rotates staff every two to three weeks and a longer-term deployment model that supplies staff for six months. The travel-dispatcher option was quoted at about $55 per hour; the six-month deployment option was presented as more stable but costly, and both options were described as substantially more expensive than hiring county employees.

Longer-term proposals discussed with county managers include increasing pay to be competitive with surrounding counties, adding a training manager position, and using carryover funds or contracts to cover temporary hires while in-house training is completed. The presenter told commissioners they might request funds to hire two contract telecommunicators for a limited time, but also said four would be closer to what is needed to stabilize operations.

Commissioners asked about overtime, conversion of overtime to straight time, and how competitive regional pay is; the presenter said Randolph County telecommunicator starting pay lags neighboring counties and that pay competitiveness is one driver of turnover.

The presenter closed by urging the board to view 911 staffing as an urgent public-safety problem. “I was really inspired by that. It actually, you know, it inspired me. It’s true. I’m concerned that we are very close to not being able to answer that phone call,” they said.

The presentation did not include a formal vote or action; commissioners requested further information and signaled continued discussion in upcoming budget meetings.

Ending: The county manager and commissioners will consider short-term contract hires and longer-term pay and training changes during remaining budget sessions; no formal appropriation or action was recorded at this meeting.