Re: 911:: Can anyone help?

[Guest guest]

Well....... I dispatch for it all, one consolidated center, we no longer are

radio, we are central. Been that way about 4 years now, and yes there were

adjustments, but this is good, really good. It works, try it you may grow to

like

it, if you and others in your dispatch will give it a chance.

Sorry no negativity here............. a central command works for the city

and county......and us

p.s. Puts you in command of all of

em................POWER!!..................just kidding

[Guest guest]

Arguments can be made on both sides of the consolidation issue equation. On

the pro side, there's the secured location issue, the elimination of duplicated

functions, and maintenance/leasing/rent cost savings. The latter two deal

with the almighty dollar which is a formidable foe, and in my opinion, the only

reason for doing so.

On the con side, you're creating a single point at which a simple failure

(floods, severe weather, contractor digs up your phone lines, etc.) could bring

down your entire operation. Then you have labor issues. In NYC, all three

dispatch functions are paid at different rates and are covered by five different

unions. There can be no cross training without a fundamental change in the way

the City provides these services, requiring lengthy bargaining sessions between

the City and the unions. (And to give you an idea of how long that will take,

we're still negotiating a contract for the period of 2000-2002.)

To take a stab at the security issue, what's so secure about a single

building? Is it better protected than the Pentagon?

As to your second question, NYC is comprised of five boroughs. Each borough

has it's own fire dispatch office (and it will stay that way for the

foreseeable future) on its own radio frequency. Each borough controls its own

incidents.

If units have to cross the border, " ownership " of that unit transfers to the

other borough. One good aspect of this operation is that one borough is

swamped, it has no effect on the other four.

Assuming you still have another office.

Raffa

Supv. Dispatcher, FDNY

Borough of Brooklyn

Fire Capitol of the World

www.FDNewYork.com

[Guest guest]

Hmmmm....playing Devil's Advocate for a second...what's wrong with a more

secure location? I ask because we are a combined center, and we are in the

middle of the city on an industrial highway. It definitely causes security

concerns, and not just from a " homeland defense " standpoint...I'm talking

tanker trucks, etc. Limited access also limits threats, and it's my guess

this is why it's being done. Personally, it sounds like a good idea based

on the limited information you've given. I think you will find that having

police and fire dispatch together will be a good thing, as long as everyone

puts aside the " turf wars " . You might even decide you like police

dispatching better than fire dispatching!!

911:: Can anyone help?

> Hi,

>

> I have a couple questions.

>

> First of all, I work for the local Fire Dept here. We are completely

> separated from PD dispatch (by miles). The City, it all it's wisdom, has

> decided they want to combine the Police and Fire dispatch center in a

remote

> complex out in the boonies. We are not in favor of this combination of

> dispatch centers. As a matter of fact, we're not very excited about moving

> to the boonies, with or without PD. Has anyone ever had to live through

> this? I need to know what disadvantages there are to this combination. Are

> there any concerns about moving to a currenly uninhabited corner of the

> city, with very few access options (one road in and out)? I'm in need of

> solid evidence that we can present to support our stance.

>

> Also, while I've got your attention, does any fire dept. out there

dispatch

> on separate channels, let's say for example, North dispatch and South

> dispatch (someone told me Chicago may do it this way) in the same city?

What

> are the problems associated with 2 separate channels, and how are calls

> dispatched that cross that imaginary line? Do they dispatch the same call

on

> both channels?

>

> Ed

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[Guest guest]

> You might even decide you like police dispatching better than fire

dispatching!!

BITE YOUR TONGUE!

You bring up a good point of security. Would having all your eggs in one

basket really be a good idea? One target, so to speak. Besides, our doors

are pretty much open to the public, which is the way we want it, and now

they're talking about hiding us and locking us in. Furthermore, we were in

the Police building for many years, and as our (FD) technology progressed

faster than PD's, we were held back by that same security. We couldn't add

anything that would jeopardize the building security.

I think we get along with the cop dispatchers as a general rule, and there

are some turf wars, but not too bad (at least not on our end).

I am strongly opposed to cross-training. I hired on as a FD dispatcher,

because that's what I wanted to do. If I wanted to be a cop dispatcher, I

could have done that as well. As a matter of fact, I could transfer at any

time and make more money being a cop dispatcher, but it's not what I want to

do with my life.

[Guest guest]

>

>First of all, I work for the local Fire Dept here. We are completely

>separated from PD dispatch (by miles). The City, it all it's wisdom, has

>decided they want to combine the Police and Fire dispatch center in a

>remote

>complex out in the boonies.

We're not in the boonies, but our fire dispatch and police dispatch are in

the same building, same room (as is the private medical dispatch.) This

works well for us for two reasons that immediately spring to mind. One is

that people can be trained on both types of dispatch which allows for more

variety for the individual and more people working certain functions. The

other is the ability to easily communicate regarding calls that both fire

and pd go to. (This is also an advantage to having the private EMS dispatch

in our building. They have a wall but part of it is cut out between fire

dispatch and them so they can communicate as fire is first responders on a

lot of medical calls.)

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[Guest guest]

> On the con side, you're creating a single point at which a

> simple failure

> (floods, severe weather, contractor digs up your phone lines,

> etc.) could bring

> down your entire operation.

I'll play Devil's Advocate for this portion:

Why shouldn't the dispatch office/central/etc, be set up like the local

power/telephone grid? In those instances, should the main connection be

broken, the routing of the grid would fill the gap and allow the process

to continue. To have only one method of sending/receiving coms is a

failure on the planners part, as this should be taken into consideration

before the need arises.

Most of us have alternate sources of power in the event of a blackout,

but how many have alternate plans in case our tower gets knocked down?

Or in the example below, the phone line gets cut. Power should come in

from two directions, as well as phone, etc. Coms should have a second

method of going out, if only set up in a way as to be turned on manually

in the event the main route goes down.

If the plan is to consolidate in order to save money, then the issue of

having back up systems in place shouldn't be an issue. The

comsolidation should recoup the cost in the long run. And there could

still be the option of having a coms center kick in at the local PD or

FD should the need arise (as they still need communications there anyway

if they GET calls there). They may not have all the bells and whistles

that the main center has, but it would only be in the event of a major

emergency, so how long would it really need to be in full operation?

[Guest guest]

>I am strongly opposed to cross-training. I hired on as a FD dispatcher,

because that's what I wanted to do. If I wanted to be a cop dispatcher, I

could have done that as well.

I understand your point completely.

But I fear you're fighting an uphill battle.

I've always considered myself a " police " dispatcher, but

" consolidation " is here, and it looks like it's here to stay.

9-1-1 has changed nearly everything about dispatching

over the years... I think mostly for the better...but it

has hurt us in some ways also.

Weintraut

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/2/2004 6:50:50 AM Central Standard Time,

ekarsten@... writes:

Also, while I've got your attention, does any fire dept. out there dispatch

on separate channels, let's say for example, North dispatch and South

dispatch (someone told me Chicago may do it this way) in the same city?

Yes, this is how Chicago does it, but I can't help with any problems as I'm

from the Police side.

Chicago (Police) 9-1-1