PODCAST - ow Modern CAD Systems can Improve Fire Department Operations

Rickey Stokes

Viewed: 666

Posted by: RStokes
[email protected]
3347901729
Date: Sep 20 2024 4:06 PM

How Modern CAD Systems can Improve Fire Department Operations | QuickChat

In this video, experts will discuss how computer-aided dispatch (CAD) solutions can help fire departments improve response times, resource management and more. In this QuickChat video, Peter Mathews and Chris Carver, Director of Market Development at Hexagon and former FDNY fire alarm dispatcher, discuss how CAD vendors can help fire departments improve response times and resource management from the time the first 9-1-1 call is received until the incident is over. 

This is from FIREHOUSE.com

CLICK FOR FULL PODCAST

At the last City of Dothan - Houston County Communications District Board meeting the City of Dothan - Houston County Communications Board said their attorney, Cliff Mendheim, said the CAD link to integrating times into the fire reports was not a 911 expenditure.

The Alabama laws state the 911 is for "receiving, dispatching and transmitting" of 911 calls. The attorney took the position the integration of the $ 1200 or so connectivity from CAD to the reports was not in "receiving, transmitting and dispatching" of 911 calls.

But in this podcast you will see how the data is important from both a 911 standpoint and agency standpoint.

In Dothan - Houston County we do not have a joint communications center. We have a co-located communications center. There is a wall between the Dothan 911 Center and Houston County 911 Center. There is a wall between Dothan and Houston County dispatchers, of which I voted against when on the 911 Board. Mutual aid requests takes an estimated four minutes to go through the wall from request until mutual aid dispatched.

Only Dothan Police Chief Will Benny has command over Dothan 911 and only Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza has control over Houston County 911. No fire chief, to include Dothan Fire Chief Larry Williams, has any control over the actual dispatch. Both centers are under law enforcement control dispatch for fire and EMS.

The City of Dothan - Houston County Communications District Board, who according to the last financial statement, has an estimated $ 6 million dollars in the bank. They have three employees, a Director which is Pam Lowe, a address lady and a man who looks after the building. They each have a vehicle assigned but do not drive them home. The City of Dothan - Houston County Communications owns the equipment and building, but is not in charge of anyone who handles receiving, dispatching and transmitting of 911 calls.

The Board has zero management authority over anyone in the Communications Center.

Will explain more in another article. Some questions have surfaced since Houston County Commission Chairman Brandon Shoupe wanted to charge $ 25,000.00 to each municipality for  dispatching. We will explain how different sysems work over the weekend.

<- back