Training Begins For Combined Dispatch Center

By Andrew Gorosko

In preparation for the combination of the town’s fire/ambulance dispatching center with its police dispatching center, two fire/ambulance dispatchers have received training in law enforcement dispatching techniques.

 Dispatchers Michael Reyen and John Reed, Jr received the training at a seminar conducted January 23 and 24 by Powerphone at Booth Library and Edmond Town Hall.

Currently, emergency services dispatching is split between two locations. Police dispatching is done in the police station at 3 Main Street. Fire and ambulance dispatching is done in Edmond Town Hall at 45 Main Street, about one-half mile north of the police station.

The police dispatching center handles Emergency 911 calls. E-911 calls requiring a response by fire or ambulance personnel are routed to the dispatch center in Edmond Town Hall.

When dispatching operations are centralized in the future, all dispatching work – police, fire, ambulance, and E-911 – will be conducted in the same place.

   Where that centralized dispatching facility will be remains an open question. It appears the facility will be somewhere in the municipal building at 3 Main Street, where the lower level formerly served as the Town Hall South office building and the upper level is now the police station.

A study panel has suggested that the dispatching center be located on the lower level of the building, in the space formerly occupied by the town building department. The police, however, have questioned the practicality of that location, saying it would make more sense to place the facility upstairs in what is now the records room in the police station.

According to Powerphone, about 70 percent of the E-911 calls received by a dispatching center will be police-related, underscoring the need for fire/ambulance dispatchers to be trained in law enforcement dispatching techniques.

The training program in which Mr Reyen and Mr Reed participated is designed to build a solid foundation for dispatchers handling law enforcement calls, according to Powerphone. Topics covered in the 16-hour training program included: crimes in progress, the roles and duties of dispatchers, liability and legal issues, domestic violence, hysterical callers, anonymous calls, suicide calls, the protection of responders, information gathering, crisis intervention, multiple calls, prioritization, role playing and professionalism.

Police dispatchers are expected to respond quickly and effectively to potentially volatile incidents, according to Powerphone.

Powerphone staffer Jose Sastre provided the training seminar, which attracted participants from across the state.