By Brennan David
The Columbia Daily Tribune
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The board that is trying to reorganize joint communications was told of the dispatch center’s deficiencies 19 years ago, but it never implemented any recommendations laid out in a consultant’s report, and the center has only added one staff position since that time.
Members of the Public Safety Joint Communications board talked about the needs of the 911 center at their meeting yesterday. More space was identified as a necessity in the group’s meeting last week, and committee Chairman and Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey yesterday referenced the 1993 study of the agency and a 2010 comparison with Springfield as documentation of needs for additional staff.
The 1993 report, produced by consultant Spectrum Resources Inc., described the workload of the dispatch center as very high at certain times of the day.
“The Dispatch Center is understaffed and inadequate space is available for all dispatching and administrative functions,” the study said. “Recommendations include increased staffing and ultimately, a new Dispatch Center.”
The study advised that supervisors should conduct their duties and not be answering calls for service, as supervisors still do today, said Joe Piper, joint communications interim manager.
The center still conducts its communications in the same format as it did then with five workers per shift. Only one position has been added since the report was issued, Carey said.
“They have asked” the board “in the past for more positions but were denied,” Carey said of joint communications managers. “This is our chance to fix it.”
The study also recommended an organizational structure similar to what was used in Springfield.
Springfield and Columbia handle approximately the same amount of dispatches. The two agencies studied each other in 2010 to improve services. Piper said Springfield administrators at the time informed him Columbia’s center was vastly understaffed.
As proposed by Carey, a reorganization of the Columbia 911 center would require 10 additional staff members through the creation of two new positions because of shift rotations. Those positions likely would be new dispatchers for law enforcement and fire and emergency medical services, but a format is yet to be agreed upon. A new 911 tax is under consideration for funding.
“We have to come up with what it will look like and who will fund it,” Carey said.
Such staffing is needed because a single fire or medical call can tie up 40 percent of the staff for several minutes, Carey said. The call-taker receives the call, and the fire/EMS dispatcher notifies the appropriate personnel. The issue is quickly compounded when a second call then requires the fire/EMS dispatcher to process that phone call and manage three radio channels at the same time, Boone County Fire Protection Chief Scott Olsen added.
Most accidents generate multiple phone calls because most people carry cellphones. Anytime there are multiple calls pending, the dispatchers are tempted to rush through the current call to help the next caller. This causes reduced customer service and a greater potential for error and loss of information, Carey said.
Reach Brennan David at 573-815-1718 or e-mail bpdavid@columbiatribune.com
Copyright 2012 Columbia Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2012 ProQuest Information and Learning
All Rights Reserved
ProQuest SuperText
Copyright 2012 The Columbia Daily Tribune