By Laura Gaddy
The Anniston Star
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — The Calhoun County 911 District is one step closer to managing emergency calls for the Jacksonville Fire Department, a move leaders with both agencies say will help rescuers reach victims quicker.
At a Friday meeting of the public safety committee of Jacksonville City Council, Jacksonville fire Chief Wade Buckner asked the committee to approve the change. The committee agreed to ask the mayor to add the topic to the council’s Monday work session agenda.
“I think this is probably one of the more important things we’re going to be able to do as far as improving response,” Wade told the committee.
For now, when someone has an emergency inside the department’s district, a 911 dispatcher takes the call and records the caller’s personal information. Then the call is transferred to the Jacksonville Police Department, where the process is repeated.
Wade said that second step is one too many and that it lengthens the department’s response time.
During a 30-minute talk, he played a video that showed a fire starting inside a typical American living room. It took 3 minutes and 40 seconds for a flame to develop into a blaze so large that it consumed the space.
Then the chief said under the current system, it takes between two and three minutes for the firefighters to receive notification of an emergency. If the city makes the switch, he said, the department would be notified of an emergency in less than one minute 90 percent of the time.
The service would cost Jacksonville $65,500 each year, an expense that city officials say would be offset by a need for fewer dispatchers at the Police Department and recent retirements at the Fire Department.
While the change could create a need for fewer police dispatchers, police Chief Tommy Thompson said it wouldn’t lead to layoffs because the department is already understaffed.
Mayor Johnny Smith questioned the cost of the service, asking why the city needs to pay more money for work the 911 is doing at no cost to Jacksonville. City Manager Jarrod Simmons also pointed out that 911 receives funding from small fees that are applied to residents’ phone bills.
911 Director Kevin Jenkins responded, noting that the office has to buy costly technology to do the work and added that the center would have to take on some additional responsibilities if the city allows the office to do its dispatch work.
“We just want to provide the service if you want the service,” Jenkins told the committee and the close of the meeting.
Calhoun County 911 has been seeking to streamline dispatch for police and fire departments across the county, many of which have a two-step process similar to Jacksonville’s. So far, the Anniston police and fire departments are the only two that have agreed to hand dispatch services over to the 911 call center.
Committee member Truman Norred said he thinks it will be good if Jacksonville is next to sign up, adding that during emergencies, seconds matter.
“You’ve got some golden second,” Norred said. “If you let that pass there’s not a doctor at any hospital that can bring you back.”
Jenkins also said that at a meeting Friday morning, the 911 Board of Commissioners agreed to spend about $500,000 on a new communications system that will allow departments throughout the county to better communicate with each other. With the new system, he said, authorities would be better equipped to manage major emergencies that require response from multiple agencies.
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(c)2014 The Anniston Star (Anniston, Ala.)
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