ORD-2011-047 Budget Ordinance Amendment #5-B - Study for EMS Services & E911 Communication Center

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11 The 911 Center dispatched 181,974 calls for service in fiscal year 2010/2011. In fiscal 2008/2009, 186,225 calls were handled; and in fiscal year 2009/2010, the center dispatched 183,611 calls for service. The numbers are based on the times a Call for Service (CFS) report is created. There was no standardized CFS coding system until the latter part of the 2009; therefore many calls handled by the 911 Center never- received a consistently -coded CFS report. For example, a resident who calls for information, or a mistaken dial in which an agency was not dispatched but handled by the telecommunicator and determined as no resource needed, was not consistently documented in a CFS Report. Multiple agencies dispatched to one incident location were counted as one CFS Report. Currently, all calls are now required to receive a CFS Report with documentation of the action. The center interacts with up to 13 fire and rescue departments, seven law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services agencies, and support agencies within and surrounding Orange County such as Animal Services. To accomplish this daily balancing act, telecommunicators receive all 911 calls, process them for accuracy and agency appropriateness, dispatch multiple units often representing different agencies, monitor multiple channels and continue the process until the call is completed, in addition to continuous monitoring of law enforcement channels due to frequent events of officers initiating calls. Addressing the workload in the Center requires six (6) consoles to be staffed that handle: 1 telecommunicator: 2 radio channels for Sheriff's Department and answer phones 1 telecommunicator: 2 radio channels for Chapel Hill Police Department and answer phones 2 telecommunicators: 4 radio channels for Carrboro and Hillsborough Police Department and answer phones 2 telecommunicators: 13 radio channels for EMS /Fire /Rescue and answer phones The supervisor would then be available to monitor the daily operations and relieve as needed for breaks, trainings, remedial training and focusing on major events. Minimum staffing is currently 5 telecommunicators, including the supervisor who works a console; however this does not accommodate additional duties assigned. The 911 Center is responsible for handling all record check requests through the Division of Criminal Information for any agency authorized to receive these transactions (law enforcement, Department of Corrections, Housing and Development, attorneys). Center staff are also tasked with handling all resident requests after hours and on weekends for contacting Animal Services, Public Works, Department of Social Services, Probation /Parole Officers and any other governmental agency with on -call staff. Major events impact the ability for telecommunicators to focus on the responders due to the continued responsibility for answering phones and assigned radio channels. Other additional duties include monitoring alarm systems, monitoring cameras, answering administrative telephone lines, and utilizing Emergency Medical Dispatch to assist a patient prior to the arrival of an ambulance thus reducing the availability of the telecommunicator to answer other phones but still monitor radio traffic. This is accomplished consistently with four console positions plus a supervisor who currently staffs a console. When all 28 positions are staffed, an additional two positions could potentially be posted daily. However this could not be realistically accomplished without causing considerable overtime due to employee leave, illnesses, turnover and mandatory training.