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Knox County 9-1-1 director reports steady call volume, outlines dispatcher training and tech upgrades
Summary
Knox County's 9-1-1 director told commissioners the dispatch center handled 4,142 calls in August, reported a small rise in mental-health-related calls, announced a four-hour trauma and PTSD training for dispatchers, and described ongoing work to improve wireless location and mapping tools.
The county 9-1-1 director told the Knox County Commissioners on Sept. 11 that dispatch handled 4,142 calls for service in August and that overall call types remain steady, though mental-health and suicide-attempt calls were slightly higher than before.
The director said the peak hour for 9-1-1 calls was about 4 p.m. and the busiest hour for nonemergency calls around 2 p.m. She described a recent missing-elderly response in the southern part of the county that ended with a positive outcome and recalled the incident as a notable, traumatic call for staff.
Commissioners pressed for details about training and technology. The director announced a four-hour training series in September covering trauma, suicidology, compassion fatigue and post-traumatic stress disorder; KCSO chaplain Tracy Elder will teach the sessions. The classes will be offered in multiple time slots so all dispatchers can attend, and attendance will yield continuing-education credits, the director said.
On technology, the director said the center uses RapidSOS to receive texts and enhanced mapping and that the county is integrating a state GIS dashboard; a county mapping staff member (Justin) is uploading data to the dashboard. Work with the state on wireless-location detection remains in progress and is not yet available, she said.
Staffing is currently at full strength with two employees in training who were recently hired and are at similar points in their instruction, the director said. Commissioners thanked the director and moved on to other agenda items.
"They suffer similar traumas as those out in the field," the director said of dispatchers, underscoring the need for the training initiative.
