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County adopts amended 9-1-1 advisory board bylaws; board seeks operational changes to reduce unnecessary full responses
Summary
The Dickinson County Commission adopted amended bylaws for its 9-1-1 advisory board, expanding membership and clarifying bylaw amendment procedures. The 9-1-1 director and advisory board members discussed operational changes including a proposed 'lift assist' call type and limiting full responses when callers verify non-injury incidents.
The Dickinson County Board of Commissioners voted to adopt amended bylaws for the county 9-1-1 advisory board, updating membership and bringing certain bylaw amendment processes back to the commission for final review.
Amber Pfeiffer, 9-1-1 director, told the board she has convened the advisory group to review representation and operations since taking the position two months ago. "We're trying to make sure that the people that were appointed and actually had a vote was still relevant and important and kind of represented everybody," Pfeiffer said, adding she does not hold a voting seat but serves as the director and official record keeper for the board.
The amended bylaws add specified appointees, including representation for the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office, the county fire chiefs association president, emergency medical services and emergency preparedness directors, and a Woodbine appointee. The revisions also clarify that some minor bylaw changes may be routed to the county administrator for review before being presented to the commission.
Pfeiffer and the advisory board also recommended operational protocol changes intended to reduce unnecessary emergency responses. The board proposed introducing a separate "lift assist" call type for non-injury incidents that require manpower rather than ambulance transport, and agreed that verified non-injury crashes (for example, when a first-party caller confirms no injuries) should not automatically trigger a full multi-unit response, though dual responses remain appropriate in many rural situations to get help to scene quickly.
Commissioners approved the bylaw amendments on a motion and second; the motion carried. The board and staff said they will present an interactive briefing in a later session to demonstrate 9-1-1 operations and the proposed call-type changes.
