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Sedgwick County outlines $15 million plan to overhaul 911 after Brook Hollow fire
Summary
Commissioner Ryan Beatty described staffing increases, new positions, technology upgrades and an independent incident review after a deadly 2023 apartment fire, saying the county will fund nearly $15 million in 2025 for 911 operations and improvements.
Sedgwick County Commissioner Ryan Beatty described a series of staffing, technology and organizational changes aimed at strengthening the county’s 911 system after a fatal October 2023 fire at the Brook Hollow apartment complex near Central and Rock Road.
Beatty said the county and the City of Wichita jointly commissioned an independent incident analysis by Jensen Hughes after questions surfaced about the emergency response to the fire, which injured several people and killed a resident, Paoli Badeschi. "We weren't going to wait for a report to do the things we know are needed to make improvements in our departments, particularly in 911," Beatty said.
The commissioner outlined steps already taken and planned actions: boosting pay and staffing to reach full complement after a period of severe understaffing, creating new dispatcher roles, upgrading radio consoles at the 911 backup site, adding voice-to-text transcription for 911 calls and establishing a community advisory board to collect public feedback.
Beatty said staffing rose from roughly 62% in October 2021 to "100% fully staffed at the end of 2024." He said the county began 2023 with nine call takers and will end the year with 32. The county added 10 positions to the staffing table, including six new "Dispatcher 3" positions, which Beatty described as a new role providing training and support for staff.
On technology, Beatty said all radio consoles at the county’s 911 backup site were upgraded and that a transcription system to convert voice audio from 911 calls into text will be active in January 2025. He also said Sedgwick County plans to fund "just shy of $15,000,000" in 2025 for 911 operations and improvements, and that the county will pursue national accreditation for its dispatch operations.
Beatty characterized the Jensen Hughes review as both "helpful in many ways" and "needed," and said the county will continue collaborative work among 911, fire and EMS departments. He encouraged residents to read the more-than-100-page report linked in his office newsletter and invited community feedback.
The remarks were delivered as a District 4 newsletter update from Beatty and were not presented as formal commission action during the remarks. Beatty said the commission previously approved the Jensen Hughes contract in May and that county leadership committed to act on improvements prior to the final report.
