Communications Center Refurbished For Emergency Dispatching

By Andrew Gorosko

The town’s emergency communications center at Town Hall South is not any larger than it used to be; it just seems that way.

The room at the northeast corner of the building’s upper level has a new paint scheme, better flooring, improved lighting, and custom furniture that is expressly built for radio dispatching, providing the facility with better ergonomics, creating an improved work environment.

The clean layout of the room is designed for the demands of emergency radio dispatching, a line of work that may experience little activity for extended periods, but then may heat up with intense bursts of activity as emergency situations occur, sometimes simultaneously.

The communications center is staffed by two dispatchers around the clock, seven days a week. The center dispatches police, fire, and ambulance calls. It handles all local 911 calls.

Director of Emergency Communications Joseph DelBuono and Emergency Telecommunications Supervisor Corey Robinson oversee a staff of ten dispatchers.

The communications center, which was created in the fall of 2001, had been equipped with generic office furniture, which was not well suited to the demands of dispatching, explained Mr DelBuono. Also, the original design did not adequately address the positioning of the extensive electronic cabling that such a facility requires, he said.

The revamped facility that was recently completed provides better access to equipment, a cleaner environment, and better security, he said. The project took more than a month to accomplish.

The room holds almost 20 electronic displays, providing a variety of information to the dispatchers on duty. The displays are physically better organized than they were in the past, Mr DelBuono said.

The room contains three dispatching stations from which three dispatchers could work simultaneously, if necessary.

The height and positioning of the computer displays and keyboards at each dispatching station can be independently modified. Such adjustments allow dispatchers to sit or to stand while dispatching emergency personnel on their 12-hour shifts, thus reducing physical fatigue.  

A new paint scheme alternates ivory-colored walls with blue walls, creating a sense of expansiveness. 

The room is set up for round-the-clock use, explained Mr Robinson. Dispatchers work for three consecutive days, and then are off work for four consecutive days.

As part of the project, the dispatch center updated its 911 communications equipment.

The communications center improvement project cost about $60,000, which included an approximately $34,000 state grant, Mr DelBuono said.

Overall, the improvements create a work area that is “more user-friendly, more organized, more structured,” he said.

With the aid of improved lighting, the dispatching room has become a better work environment, he said.

Among the communications center security renovations is a one-way-mirror panel facing the public in the police station lobby. The public cannot see the dispatchers, but the dispatchers can see the public.

Members of the public requesting police services are instructed to pick up a telephone in the lobby to talk to a dispatcher who will field their questions.

Having completed the communications center renovation project, Mr DelBuono, who has worked for the town since 2001, is now headed off to a dispatching management job in Litchfield County.

Mr DelBuono’s last day of work in Newtown will be June 19, after which he will become the executive director of Litchfield County Dispatch, Inc, in Litchfield. The nonprofit organization, which is located near the state police’s Troop L barracks, provides emergency dispatching services to most of the towns in Litchfield County.