Okla. City Fire, EMS Dispatch Merger Close to Finish

A system that lets the Oklahoma City and Emergency Medical Services Authority dispatch systems talk to each other is getting closer to becoming operational after a long delay.

EMSA made the call three years ago to switch to the same computer-aided dispatch system used by police and firefighters in Oklahoma City and Edmond, and also paid for software that allows the systems to interface with each other, said EMSA Chief Information Officer Frank Gresh.

"That was putting our money where our mouth is," Gresh said. "We know this is going to be such a good thing for the EMS (emergency medical services) system as a whole that we're going to fund the software side of this."

EMSA officials originally hoped to have the interface working in Oklahoma City by early 2011, Gresh said. But technical problems and solutions that have been tricky to find have caused significant delays.

California-based TriTech Software Systems, the vendor of the systems and interface, has been battling problems with getting the pieces to fit, company Senior Vice President of Operations Michael Nabors said.

The good news is the system worked fine for the first time in a test mode Friday, and TriTech is optimistic it will be ready to go this week.

"Then, really, it's up to those agencies to say when is the right time to throw the switch, and we're going to work with them on that timing," Nabors said.

Cost, time savings

The interface is expected to save the city and EMSA time and money through increased efficiency.

Fire paramedics and EMSA ambulances are dispatched automatically to every medical call in the city. With the new system, authorities can reduce over-response by being able to communicate more quickly when paramedics from one of the agencies make it to a scene.

With the new interface fully in place, ambulances and fire trucks could sometimes turn around earlier or even stay parked, reducing maintenance costs and increasingly expensive fuel.

The interface also will provide firefighters with better information because of differences in fire and EMSA dispatch, Stanaland said.

"EMSA call takers go very in-depth," Stanaland said. "We'll be able to see that so a fire officer riding on the road to take a call will be able to see more patient information and relay that to the fire paramedics. They can start working on the call as they're going."

No extra fees

EMSA has not been charged for the delays.

"It's all part of the software they (TriTech) sold us and the support agreement that we have with them that says they'll fix any problems," Gresh said. "This is obviously a problem, and they completely agree it's a problem."

The interface went live in Edmond first because of the chance to try it out in a smaller city with fewer emergency calls, Gresh said. Final kinks still are being worked out in the Edmond system, but the problems weren't as significant as they were in Oklahoma City.

Despite the delays in Oklahoma City, Gresh said officials still are optimistic the interface will be working soon and confident it will have the desired impact. And there are no hard feelings toward TriTech, he said, because everyone understands complex software issues are hard to fix.

"As far as vendors go, I'm glad they're in my corner," Gresh said. "From time to time, you get a little software issue that takes a while to pull the thread and resolve."

Copyright 2012 - The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City

McClatchy-Tribune News Service