Jun 8, 2007
EMERGENCIES:
Ridgefield looks at regional dispatching
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As draftsmen at DCA Architects begin working on plans for an estimated $5- to $7-million expansion of Ridgefield police headquarters that would include a new dispatching center, other officials continue to look at the possibility of adopting regional dispatch for emergency services.
The proposed 7,200-square-foot addition to the police station includes space that would allow a centralized dispatch center. The town currently uses local dispatch, in which the police and fire departments run independent dispatch centers.
Police initially answer incoming 9-1-1 calls, routing them to the fire dispatcher as needed. Fire department dispatchers receive special training to meet a 2004 state law mandating that anyone who handles ambulance calls know how to give “pre-arrival instructions” to callers, covering everything from infant CPR to major trauma.
Police Chief Richard Ligi believes the current system wastes valuable time and is a strong proponent of centralized dispatch. “Our goal here is to serve the safety needs of the community,” he said in a May interview.
Centralized dispatch combines fire and police in one call center and would require nine dispatchers for 24-hour service, Chief Ligi said in a previous interview. Two and a half positions are already at the police station, and existing firehouse dispatchers would move to central dispatch. Central dispatching requires two people on duty at all times, plus supervision.
Regional dispatch
At the same time, town officials continue to study the possibility of joining a regional dispatch center. Redding would move to a new facility at the former Gilbert & Bennett wire mill development that would combine the fire and police dispatch center along with those of Weston.
Wilton is also considering putting police and fire at the new facility. Fire Chief Heather Burford and First Selectman Rudy Marconi said Ridgefield would move only its fire dispatch to the center.
“The police have to have their own dispatch,” Mr. Marconi said. “They have been very clear about that.”
Chief Burford said regional dispatch is becoming popular in many areas of the country. “It allows communities to combine their resources,” she said. “We don’t have unlimited numbers and we rely on mutual aid. This would give us the ability to know all the different resource types we need.”
If a fire call went into the regional center, it would allow the immediate dispatch of mutual aid to a large fire or accident, potentially shortening the response time. “We would be enhancing our communication center through equipment upgrades that would allow the regional dispatch center to dispatch fire and/or police for the four municipalities,” The Wilton Bulletin quoted Redding Police Chief Douglas Fuchs as saying.
No double-dipping
Although it would appear having centralized and regional dispatch is a doubling of effort, Mr. Marconi and Chief Burford said it actually wasn’t.
“Regional dispatch would be for the fire department and could streamline their response,” Mr. Marconi said. “The police need their own dispatch and right now, they have a terribly antiquated system. No matter what, we need to upgrade it.”
Mr. Marconi also stressed the centralized dispatch center is “right now, only part of a plan. If it gets built, it would be done so in phases.”
Chief Burford said regional dispatch is also simply “an idea we’re discussing. We have not committed to anything.”
Residents approved spending $420,000 on plans for the police station addition in a May 15 vote. Those plans include a centralized dispatch center. The regional center, which Georgetown wire mill developer Stephen Soler would build and the town of Redding would lease, remains in the planning stages at best.
According to a May 3 story in The Redding Pilot, Redding First Selectman Natalie Ketcham and Chief Fuchs recently met with Mr. Soler but have yet to reach a deal on a lease. How much it would cost Ridgefield to join a regional dispatch is also unclear.
“These are simply options we are weighing,” Mr. Marconi said. “We have made no decisions.”
Police Chief Ligi did not return a call seeking comment.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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