Finney County EMS moves to First Due after reporting failures with Active911

Finney County commissioners on Dec. 15 approved a contract with First Due to replace the county's unreliable Active911 alerting system for emergency medical services. Kenny Smith, Finney County EMS director, told the board Active911 had experienced repeated failures that left crews without timely information and that a six‑month evaluation using the Garden City Fire Department's implementation showed First Due offered more dependable performance and operational features.

"First Due provided significantly improved capabilities, including real time unit tracking, enhanced dispatch notes, more accurate location information, and improved mapping," Smith said, summarizing the operational benefits observed during testing.

The proposed contract includes a one‑time setup fee of $1,800 and a 2026 annual subscription fee of $6,950, for a total first‑year expenditure of $8,750. Smith told the board the first‑year cost was not budgeted in the 2026 operating budget for EMS and that the one‑time and subscription payments would be drawn from the EMS equipment reserve fund, which staff said has a current balance of $555,904.38. Beginning in 2027, the annual subscription cost will be incorporated into the EMS operating budget.

Commissioners questioned map accuracy for county roads and whether state or GIS maps would be used. Smith said the system integrates with current GIS mapping used by the city and that transition would be coordinated with IT and dispatch. After a motion and second, the board approved the agreement and authorized the county administrator to execute the contract.