911 Center

It may not have gone off without a hitch -- some users had a learning curve -- but the new emergency communication system in Genesee County is fully functional.

There were rumors of technical problems with the new system, including problems with the Pavilion tower, but trusted sources along with Sheriff Gary Maha said the Harris system has performed as it should since the switch over shortly after 7 a.m.

The $10.8 million system -- paid for largely with federal grants and a local bond -- is technically identical to the communication system all police and fire units across the United States are converting to, which will help improve inter-agency communications in regional and national emergencies.

"We've been using the system all day and handled a number of calls -- accidents, shoplifters, calls for service -- and so far so good," Maha said. "It's gone as smooth as could be expected."

Owners of the new Uniden P-25-compatiable scanners locally are reporting spotty success in picking up fire and police transmission. The scanners do work, but reception is not always reliable.

Here at The Batavian, we don't have our new scanner fully programmed yet, so can't report on how it's working out for us.

The Sheriff's Office also switched to a new digital phone system. That transition didn't go as smoothly, Maha admitted, but the phones appear to be working properly now.

Emergency dispatchers have received a number of calls from people calling about the power outage in Stafford and the eastern side of Batavia.

Yes, dispatchers know about the outage. No they don't know when power will be restored.

Calls about the outage should be directed to National Grid.

Power could be out for up to 10 hours, though workers are trying to restore it much more quickly than that.

If you have an emergency, call 9-1-1.

A lot's changed since Gary Diegelman became an emergency dispatcher 33 years ago.

When Diegelman started there was one computer in the dispatch center. There was a manual typewriter for incident reports and a handwritten blotter book.

Today, a dispatcher sits in front a multi-line phone with six computer screens to track calls, incidents and the location and availability of first responders.

On his first day on the job, Diegelman was told, "here's a chair. Here's your training manuals. Sit down and shut up."

On his second day on the job, there was only one other dispatcher scheduled to work, Tom Graham (now town justice in Oakfield). Graham turned to Diegelman and said, "I hope you know what you're doing because you've got fire dispatch."

Today, a dispatcher is put through a minimum of four months of training before they're allowed to take calls and make dispatches on their own.

All of the changes that have taken place to make the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center what it is today is enough change for Diegelman, he said.

"Everybody says you know when it's time, and it's time," Diegelman said during his retirement party at the Sheriff's Office on Park Road. "I've been through so many changes I don't want to go through any more changes. With this new radio system coming and everything else, it's time."

Sheriff Gary Maha praised not only Diegelman's persistence in a very stressful job but the experience and dedication he brought to the department.

"I think he enjoyed the job," Maha said. "He learned a lot and we will miss his experience and his expertise. Like any job, you've got to be able to enjoy the job to be able to stick with it as long as he did."

During his 33 year career, Diegelman received four commendation awards, a certificate of appreciation, a meritorious award for continuous excellence, and a distinguished service award.

The job of a dispatcher alternates between times quiet and calm and then moments if not hours of overwhelming call volume.

Computers, Maha said, haven't necessarily made the job easier. There's more information to track.

It takes a person uniquely suited to the job to make it as a dispatcher, Diegelman said. You've got to be able to handle the lulls as well as the times of frantic work. You've also got to be able to deal with a public that can sometimes be surly and uncooperative.

"You need to be able to hear the public, what they want and be able to help them," Diegelman said. "You get people won don't really know what they want and you need to stir them and help them get to the right spot and then you get people who are belligerent and don't treat you well on the phone and you've got to control your emotions."

And then, he said, "there are a number of people who don't often call an emergency dispatcher and when they do, they want something and they need something and you're the first one they talk to."

The job is all about serving the public, Diegelman said.

One call Diegelman remembers the most is the night a woman called and thought there was an intruder breaking into her house. It's not an unusual kind of call and often such calls prove to be unfounded, but this time, somebody had broken into this woman's house and while Diegelman was still on the phone with her. Somehow during the attack, the intruder realized the woman was on the phone with a 9-1-1 operator and fled.

The intruder was never caught, but the woman suffered no serious injuries and thanked Diegelman later for being there for her.

"You've got to be that person who can take the call and not let it get to you because the next day you've got to go on," Diegelman said.

After 33 years of service, Gary Diegelman will no longer be taking those calls.

LISTEN: Gary DIegelman's final transmission as a dispatcher.

Press release:

Four Emergency Services dispatchers from the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center, a division of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, were deployed to Broome County after the recent devastation to that area by hurricanes Irene and Lee.

Broome County Coordinator Michael Ballard requested assistance from his state counterparts to cover shifts beginning Sept. 9 through 13. Staff from Genesee County worked 12-hour shifts answering phone lines and entering calls for service into the CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch) System to dispatch the appropriate emergency service.

Along with several Broome County Emergency Services dispatchers who were personally affected by the storms, remaining staff were becoming fatigued with the long hours and several days of continual requests from citizens for emergency services. Local authorities quickly realized that additional outside resources would be needed to staff its 9-1-1 Center. 

The New York State’s Office of Emergency Management contacted local Emergency Management offices, including Genesee County Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Yaeger, for additional resources to respond to the Broome County 9-1-1 Center.

One very important stipulation was that the deployment not severely impact the operations of the local 9-1-1 centers that send aid. Without impacting operations at the Genesee County 9-1-1 Center, four Emergency Services dispatchers were deployed within 18 hours of the request. 

Senior Emergency Services dispatchers Gary Diegelman, James Tripp, Daniel Rieks and Emergency Services Dispatcher Robert Tripp are certified members of the New York State Telecommunicator Emergency Response Task Force (TERT), a specialized team trained to handle large-scale incidents or disasters.

In conjunction with other Emergency Services dispatchers from Livingston, Niagara and Monroe counties, they deployed to Broome County (which includes the City of Binghamton) on Sept. 9 through 11.

This team of specialized Emergency Services dispatchers was created after the events of September 11, 2001. Several other agencies within New York State have members who are certified to handle these types of large-scale events.

Genesee County currently has nine Emergency Services dispatchers who are certified to respond in this capacity.  While rare, team members could be summoned not only to handle emergencies within New York State but also to assist other participating states.

Since this program’s inception, Emergency Services dispatchers from Genesee County have been requested on two occasions. In 2006, during the floods of Broome County, Emergency Services dispatchers were put on standby, however, did not need to respond. The second was the most recent request received on Sept. 8.

Broome County has been declared a disaster area, therefore, any costs or expenses incurred by Genesee County in the deployment will be reimbursed by state and federal funds.

Photos: Top, Jim Tripp; first inset, Bob Tripp; second inset, Gary Diegelman; bottom, Dan Rieks.

(Initial Post)

As counties on the east end of the state continue to struggle with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene, emergency workers in Genesee County continue to pitch in and do what they can to help.

Currently, four of the Sheriff's Office emergency dispatchers are being deployed for a couple of days in Broome County.

The will provide a "much needed break," as one dispatcher put it, to the overextended crew in Broome.

Sheriff Gary Maha said interagency cooperation like this is common in New York.

He also praised the dispatchers making the trip.

"It shows they care," Maha said. "We try to help other counties whenever we can."

All expenses incurred by the Sheriff's Office for the deployment will be reimbursed by Broome County, Maha said.

Last week, volunteer firefighters from five departments traveled to Schoharie County. Besides helping with clean-up work, the volunteers also ended up working a structure fire about 30 miles from their base.

Another deployment of volunteer firefighters from Genesee County to the storm-ravaged region is being planned.

A new system for communicating with emergency dispatch centers is in the works, and architects of the system are looking for feedback on what people with disabilities need, and how they use 9-1-1 systems.

Steve Sharpe, director of emergency communication for the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, is asking the people with disabilities in Genesee County take a short survey provided by the Federal Communications Commission on 9-1-1 services.

"This is a survey for folks with disabilities to rate their local access to 9-1-1," Sharpe said. "This will help the State of New York better prepare for what is now called Next Generation 9-1-1 or NG911. NG911 is the next step in contacting 9-1-1 centers during emergencies including using technologies such as texting, video and other means. We need our local special needs population to fill out the survey so we can better meet their needs in Genesee County."

To take the survey, click here.

If you have a mobile phone in New York, each month you pay a $1.20 surcharge for "New York State Public Safety" that you might think goes to pay for emergency dispatch.

If you think that, you're mistaken, according to Sheriff Gary Maha.

Last year, the surcharge generated $210 million in revenue, of which about $9 million was allocated to dispatch centers.

The balance of the fund, Maha said, goes straight into the state's General Fund for any number of non-law-enforcement related purposes.

Last year, Genesee County -- which spends $2 million each year to operate its dispatch center -- received just $38,000 from this fund.

“We need to keep the pressure on the state that this money should be used for what it’s intended for and not used to pay for general fund expenses," Maha told the County's Public Safety Committee today.

The committee passed a draft resolution to send to the State Legislature asking them to use the money according to its intended purposes.

The fund used to be called the 9-1-1 Surcharge, but even with the "public safety" label, the revenue is rarely being used to pay for public safety expenses, Maha said.

There is also a county-collected 35-cent surcharge on landlines for the dispatch center. But increasingly, people are abandoning landlines in favor of mobile phones, cutting down significantly on the amount of revenue this fund generates, Maha said.

Governor Paterson has proposed that $50 million from the surcharge monies, or about 21 percent, be made available to county 9-1-1 centers, Maha said.

The proposal has met with stiff opposition in the State Legislature.

The State Assembly proposes that only $8 million above last year's $9.3 million funding be provided to county 9-1-1 centers. Many think that the Legislature will take all of these monies to help fill the approximately $9 billion budget deficit facing the state, Maha said.

Often times, according to Emergency Communications Director Steven Sharpe, when people call 9-1-1 looking for help in a hurry, they don't understand why the dispatcher starts asking a lot of questions.

A father has fallen from a ladder, a grandmother has had a stroke, or a child is seriously ill. The caller has one thought: Get an ambulance here fast!

And some dispatcher on the other end of the phone starts asking questions and seems to be taking up a lot of time talking. The caller is thinking: Why can't you just send help now instead of gabbing on the phone?

What the caller may not realize, is that the dispatch center is staffed by three or more people who can share information quickly and easily through their computers. While one dispatcher is gathering vital information that will assist emergency responders when they arrive on scene, another dispatcher is already putting out the call to the appropriate agency.

Sharpe sent a press release to local media explaining procedures in detail. The full release is available after the jump:

Your family member falls off a ladder and is howling in pain, you call 9-1-1 and the dispatcher starts asking you a series of questions. Aren’t these questions just wasting time? You’re frustrated; you just want help as fast as possible.

When you call 9-1-1 and get the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center, there are a number of things happening simultaneously that are designed to help you.

A majority of the time, while you are being questioned by a 9-1-1 dispatcher, the dispatcher’s partner is listening and often is already in the process of sending first responders to your location, as long as the location has already been provided. 

That is why the first question asked is always, “Genesee County 9-1-1, what is the address of your emergency?” The dispatcher needs to know your exact location so help can get to you as quickly as possible. Although there have been a great deal of improvements in location technologies, cellular companies only have to provide 9-1-1 location information within 300 meters. Three hundred meters could mean up to a couple of blocks radius within the city. That is why it is necessary to confirm your exact location. 

Next, the dispatcher will ask your name and call-back number so it is known who to call in case the line gets cut off. This is especially important if you are calling from a school or business where all the outgoing lines go through a PBX (Private Branch Exchange).  Calls have been received where the 9-1-1 screen shows an address from one building, but the person in need is at a branch office miles away. Having your name and direct call-back number can be the difference between saving a life and sending help to the wrong location.

At this point, if you haven’t already explained what your emergency is, you will be prompted to "tell me exactly what happened.” For medical calls, an Emergency Medical Dispatch Protocol is followed, in accordance with NYS 9-1-1 Board Adopted Standards.  This protocol is a series of questions and instructions designed to help the dispatcher send the right response, provide life-saving instructions, and help a caller remain calm during this time of crisis. You will then be asked additional questions about the patient’s status (age, awake, breathing, etc.). These are the very basic questions that help the dispatcher determine if it is appropriate to stop asking questions and dispatch responders.

Depending on the situation, additional questions may be asked; and based on your answers, either an Advanced Life Support Ambulance or a Basic Life Support Ambulance will be sent. For Basic Life Support, the information you provide will determine the urgency of the medical care needed and whether the ambulance travels with lights and sirens. Which agencies respond is determined by your location. 

After the call is dispatched, the 9-1-1 dispatcher will stay on the line to give you instructions to help the patient and the emergency medical professionals. Instructions may include: do not let the patient have anything to eat or drink, unlock the door, etc. For more serious emergencies, the dispatcher may have you send someone to get an AED (Automated External Defibrillator), provide step-by-step instructions on how to deliver a baby (this has been done four times to date), or help you perform rescue breathing or CPR.

The Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center is here to help when you are potentially having the worst day of your life. Although it may seem like time is being wasted when dispatchers initially ask a series of questions; they are, in fact, sending responders your way while providing you the appropriate assistance. There have been a number of cases where following the dispatcher’s instructions have helped to save a patient’s life.

If you have further questions about the processes involved when a 9-1-1 call is received, how to contact agencies for non-emergencies, or if you would like a tour of the Genesee County 9-1-1 Center, please feel free to contact Director Sharpe at 585-343-5000.

Remember to call 9-1-1 for all police, fire, or medical emergencies!

The Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center is on track to become one of the elite dispatch centers in the state, if not the country, with Director Steven C. Sharpe setting the bar high.

It's Sharpe's goal -- and has been since 2006 -- to have the dispatch center receive an Accredited Center of Excellence rating from the the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch.

No New York county has received an ACE rating since Monroe did it 18 years ago.

"It’s aggressive, but if you want to be the best and you want to say you’re the best, then you prove it by doing it," Sharpe said.

Sharpe, along with dispatchers John Spencer and Beth Hynes-Fisher will attend a training program in Orlando, Fla., in April that will provide the trio with more information on what it takes to win the accreditation as well as training in leadership, educating others and quality assurance. There will also be a series of classes on specific dispatch situations they can take.

The accreditation focuses on emergency medical dispatch, but Sharpe said the benefits go beyond sending ambulances out.

"The thing is, it doesn’t just effect our emergency medical dispatching," Sharpe said. "It makes us better dispatchers for police and fire as well.”

While achieving the accreditation is something Sharpe set his eye on as far back as 2006, he couldn't have dispatchers focus on the training during the years of moving into a new facility and consolidating with Batavia and Le Roy. Sharpe said his team started concentrating heavily on the accreditation in June and has already achieved a better than 90-percent compliance with protocols and calls. Accreditation requires at least 90-percent compliance on most calls and more than 95 percent on certain types of calls.

Part of the procedure required is that dispatchers go through a series of questions with callers in emergency medical situations. It's important for dispatchers to correctly assess the situation so they send the right personnel and ensure the emergency responders are properly prepared for what they might find.

"People often ask, 'why am I being asked all these questions?'" Sharpe said. "What we’re trying to do is find out what all the signs and symptoms are, and more importantly, give you instructions so you can help the person who is in need of assistance."

He said callers don't often understand that while one dispatcher is conducting the interview, another dispatcher is already starting an ambulance to the scene. Callers sometimes express concern that an ambulance isn't being sent right away, and that usually is not the case.

Sharpe joined the Sheriff's Office in December 2005 after eight years in the Air Force working in intelligence. He said his USAF background plays a critical role in how he approaches his job now.

"One of the core values of the Air Force is excellence in all we do and this is one of the things I carry over into here," Sharpe said "It’s what we expect of our dispatchers. It’s a very challenging job. It’s a very difficult job. It’s very stressful. But they hold themselves to such a high standard."

Dispatch Center photo is a file photo.

In answer to a request from The Batavian, Steven C. Sharpe, director of emergency communications for the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, sent along this note about call volume at the dispatch center yesterday:

On December 10, 2009, the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center received 1,004 telephone calls, of which 354 were 911 calls.  Our busiest period was from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. when we received 400 calls of which 165 calls were made to 911.  During that same time period there were 442 radio transmissions to and from dispatch.  To put it in perspective, during that four hours we received or answered the radio every 33 seconds, a telephone call every 36 seconds, a 911 call every 87 seconds.  We dispatched a total of 268 incidents, however many of these responses involved multiple agencies such a police, fire, emergency medical services, highway departments, and utilities.  According to our records there were 107 calls for service created for cars off the road or disabled vehicles, but many of the jobs involved multiple vehicles.  There were 56 property damage and/or personal injury accidents that were dispatched.  

These job numbers do not reflect the number of calls we transferred to the New York State Thruway for disabled vehicles and accidents on the NYS Thruway.  What is also not captured is the number of calls we received from callers telling us they were leaving their vehicles in municipal or private parking lots nor the calls we received regarding road conditions and travel advisories.  One way to help out the dispatch center is to have your listeners/readers call 585-345-3000 extension 3300 to hear the Road Conditions Update.  They can also read the different definitions for Travel Advisory, Road Closings And Travel Bans at the county website located at http://www.co.genesee.ny.us/dpt/sheriff/weatheradvisory.html
 

Le Roy Dispatch signed off tonight at 11:42 with, "Le Roy Base signs off. End of tour. It's all yours."

We did not hear the next call on the scanner, but Genesee County Dispatch replied to it with, "Copy LV-2 and welcome aboard."

And so begins a new era of Genesee County Dispatch handling police and fire calls for the town and village of Le Roy.

Overheard on the scanner: Mother-daughter domestic. Mother took daughter's cell phone away.

Responding officer: "Let me guess, the daughter called."

And my first thought: "And we'll have fun, fun, fun until your mother takes your cell phone awaaaaay."

Today, I toured the Sheriff's Office with Sheriff Gary Maha and got to hang out in the high-tech dispatch center for a good deal of time, learning all about both the technology and work flow. It was very imformative. Steve Sharpe, director of emergency communications, provided great insight into dispatch operations. I spend a lot of time listening to the scanner and I depend on the dispatch center for news, so it was useful to see how it actually works and meet the people behind the professional-sounding voices I hear every day.