By Elizabeth Gibson
The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio — Half of the desks are empty at the new 911 dispatch center serving eastern Franklin County, but not because of layoffs like those that have plagued so many local governments.
And they might not be empty for much longer.
Metropolitan Emergency Communication Center officials added extra desks to the new 2,000-square-foot facility in Gahanna expecting other fire agencies to sign onto their experiment in teamwork. The center dispatches fire and other emergency crews for Mifflin, Plain, Jefferson, Truro and Jefferson townships and the city of Whitehall.
Pooling resources saves money and gives small jurisdictions a shot at high-tech services that otherwise would be out of reach, center administrators said. Plus, with cash-strapped agencies looking to trim costs, a joint dispatch center might save jobs or services elsewhere.
“We can achieve a new level of service that agencies wouldn’t be able to reach on their own,” said Frederick Kauser, deputy fire chief for Mifflin Township.
Mifflin, Plain and Jefferson townships created the joint dispatch center in 2003, and it now serves a population of 120,000.
From desks loaded with seven computer screens and a headset apiece, shifts of four operators dealt with 24,891 emergency calls over the past year.
But when projections suggested that the six jurisdictions would serve twice as many people by 2020, fire officials decided they needed more room, Kauser said. And maybe a shower for all-nighters during ice storms. The old dispatch center was crammed into a 350-square-foot room in Mifflin’s township hall.
Operators started settling into the new center this year and are holding an open house today.
The center’s designed to accommodate as many as eight more partners, and Kauser said they’re hoping two agencies will join within the next 14 months.
The new facility, leased for about $300,000 in Gahanna’s Creekside development, shows what collaboration can buy, said Jack Rupp, assistant fire chief for Plain Township and New Albany.
Alone, it would be hard to pay for so many upgrades, said Preston Moore, assistant fire chief for Whitehall. “It’s just bought us more stuff for money we’d be spending anyway.”
The agencies have won $2.2 million in federal and state grants since 2003. They also split a $1.3 million annual operating budget.
That helped pay for software upgrades and equipment. The center is the first in central Ohio to install technology that could someday allow residents to text 911 or send photos of traffic accidents from their phones.
In fact, it was like buying a high-tech phone that can handle tons of applications that haven’t been designed yet, said Roger Hixson of the National Emergency Number Association. There are still a lot of legislation, infrastructure and technical kinks to be worked out.
“But they’ve done a good thing, and they’re nicely positioned for the future,” Hixson said.
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