Central dispatch needed

[IMAFIREFIGHTER4FREE]

I live in Southeast Tn. and our county doesn't have central dispatch the fire departments feel we need central dispatch. we have 10 differnt departments in the county which have their own freqs. and repeaters but no central dispatch at present time your phone number is transfered to one of 4 dispatchers either county sherriff or one of the 3 city police dispatchers then the caller must tell them what the problem is and then they reconnect to the proper fire department (long time to here the emergency and get help on the way when seconds count) if you have any thing that I could take to the county commissioners to help get real central dispatch I would appreciate it pros/cons and info on systems and bugs or problems to look out for. Thanks for your help with this problem Todd at chertitl@bellsouth.net

[deanf]

My general experience with central dispatch centers is that after a certain point, they get to be too big for their own good. There comes a point past which a dispatcher can't be expected to be intimately familiar with the geography of the departments in their jurisdiction. This happens when the central center takes on too many customers. And it has nothing to do with manpower levels in the center. In my opinion, a dispatcher must be intimately familiar with the geography of their jurisdiction to be considered competent. So, the goal of central dispatch, and the goal of competency in dispatchers can sometimes be conflicting. Your mileage may vary.

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Member, IAFF Local 2024


[This message has been edited by deanf (edited February 02, 2000).]