Whatcom County (WA) Seeks Better, Cheaper Answer to 911 Call Centers

Robert Mittendorf The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.) (MCT) Dec. 15—Combining Whatcom County’s two 911 dispatch centers, whose operators separately send law-enforcement officers or firefighters to calls for service, is back on the County Council’s agenda. It’s both logical and a cost-saving measure to combine the two 911 centers, said Councilman Tyler Byrd. “I’ve been working on all the documentation I can find on this and talking to people. I can’t find a single efficiency that comes out of this the way it is today,” Byrd said during a Nov. 12 budget session. Calls to 911 currently go to WhatComm, where dispatchers ask about the nature of the emergency. WhatComm operators dispatch police or send fire and medical calls to Prospect dispatchers. The administrative board that governs the emergency dispatch system decided in 2019 not to pursue consolidation, according to Forrest Longman, deputy budget director for the city of Bellingham. But Byrd said he’s convinced that consolidation would create a better system that operates for less money. Duplications occur because two buildings are required now, along with separate software and managers that come from the police and fire departments, he said. Councilman Rud Browne suggested that 911 consolidation is growing more popular across Washington and the nation, noting that it’s been accom...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Communications & Dispatch News News Feed Source Type: news