911 center responds to evaluation
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BROWNSVILLE, Tenn.– New information was released on the Haywood County Dispatch report exposing communication and trust issues between dispatchers and First Responders. Joe Stephens is the chairman of the 911 Authority Board. After reviewing the recently released report, he said changes will be made. “We been working on this, and we knew some things were coming. So we investigated, and looked through some things ourselves. We were waiting on the report to come back, and see where we would go from there,” said Stephens. According to the report, the 911 staff needs immediate additional training, emphasized alack of trust between dispatchers and First Responders. It stated dispatchers are not being clear with information during calls, which caused confusion and cost valuable time during emergency situations. “They can’t hear, but what’s going on their one radio frequency, and sometimes there’s as many as six or seven different frequencies that may be going off at the same time,” said Stephens. The reports stated that there were some key positives in the dispatch center, such as an eagerness of employees to learn and the facility and equipment used was outstanding for a community the size of Haywood County. However, that was not the scope of this report. That scope was strictly focused on areas that needed improvement. One citizen said it will take the whole community to make this work. “The 911 response is always a concern, and we have to be concerned about it, but it’s something we’re going to have to continue to work with and improve the time,” said Jimmy Donald, resident. Stephens said dispatchers will receive additional training to help them work more efficiently. New technology has been added to the 911 dispatch center to help pass on messages with important information. The next step is reviewing the report with the contractor, to make an improvement plan. That meeting is set for November 18.
