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Emergency Management reports rising demand, new 911 equipment and an added dispatch station
Summary
Director Kim Elkie told the committee Jan. 911 activity included 766 calls and 27 texts and that training for new call-handling equipment has begun; Elkie also described acquiring a fourth dispatch station via local sourcing to expand capacity and said cutover to the new system is planned for the first week of March.
Kim Elkie, Director of Emergency Management and E/911 Services, updated the Courts & Public Safety Committee on operations, equipment and staffing plans. Elkie reported January totals and operational changes, described recent equipment acquisitions and gave a timeline for a system cutover.
The report listed 766 911 calls in January and 27 text messages; the monthly packet also listed 1,915 separate incidents processed (the report did not explain how that total was derived). Training for the new call-handling equipment purchased last fall began the day of the meeting; Elkie said the department plans to cut over to the new system the first week of March.
Elkie said the office located a fourth dispatch station on a 911 discussion board and acquired it for the cost of transporting it by U-Haul rather than buying a new turnkey station. The office currently operates three stations and ordered equipment to outfit four stations, which Elkie said was more cost-effective than ordering components piecemeal. He added that a new turnkey station would have cost approximately $30,000.
The committee voted to receive and file the Emergency Management and E/911 Services monthly update (motion by Commissioner Dan Ludlow, support by Commissioner Bill LaHaie). Elkie also noted upcoming quarterly meetings (Local Emergency Planning Committee, Central Dispatch Committee, and Local Planning Team) scheduled for Feb. 20.
Elkie's operational notes and the planned equipment cutover signal near-term changes in dispatch operations; the committee did not vote on additional appropriations during the meeting.
