Agenda - 08-30-2012 - 2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Comprehensive Assessment of Emergency Medical Services 62 DRAFT REPORT and 911/Communications Center Operations Study 4.2 EXISTING CONDITIONS Orange County's emergency services network, which includes virtually all of the public safety agencies operating in the County, could not exist; i.e. could not begin to approach the general public's expectations of it,without a sophisticated emergency communications system. While there is no doubt that much credit is due the many Fire, Rescue, EMS, and Law Enforcement personnel that respond with special vehicles, skills, and equipment to the scenes of countless reported emergencies, it is the actual reporting of those emergencies which gets everything started. In this instance, the County's Communications Center; or "911 Center" as it is often called; is an operational component of the Orange County Emergency Services Department. It is located on the upper level of the Department's headquarters facility at 510 Meadowlands Drive in Hillsborough, together with the offices of the Emergency Services Director, EMS Administration, Planning & Logistics, and Life Safety Divisions of the Emergency Serviced Department. The personnel who work in the Center are of course employees of the County. In the professional terminology of the communications industry, the Communications Center is referred to as the primary public safety answering point, or PSAP, for emergency communications in Orange County. On duty personnel receive, handle and dispatch calls for Fire, Rescue, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and Law Enforcement throughout Orange County. While generally referred to as "dispatchers" the position classification of the employees who work within the Center answering and dispatching calls is "Telecommunicator". During the period of the study, the Center was staffed with four (4) 12-hour shifts, each having five (5) assigned Telecommunicators. The variance in the number of staff on duty at one time, and the Center having to frequently work "short" was most frequently due to staff illness, vacation, approved personal leave, off- site training, or position vacancies. The Process The essential functions involved in the emergency communications process are illustrated in the diagram that follows (Figure 36). The time intervals identified as 'a', 'b', 'c', and 'd' represent significant activity periods identified for the purposes of this study, particularly with regards to performance. In real life these activities will vary somewhat from call to call and certainly from service to service. The involvement of Communications Center staff will also vary depending upon the type of call or emergency initially reported and the number of units or agencies dispatched. In some instances, the Telecommunicator may terminate the call when the dispatched agency has been notified, or when they respond via radio "on-scene", in others they will continue to monitor and communicate as necessary with some or all of the units/agencies responding to the emergency for the duration of the call; i.e. until the responding units are"back in service". The diagram will be repeated later in the report with additional information regarding the Center's performance relative the specific time intervals. Solutions for Local Government,Inc. 60