Emergency Dispatchers Breathe Sigh of Relief; City to Retain Services

After months of fearing that their jobs might be outsourced, Kirkwood dispatchers breathed a sigh of relief Thursday when council members accepted a recommendation to retain the city’s emergency dispatch services.

Concerns arose earlier this year following Chief Administrative Officer Mike Brown’s annual budget message. In the message, Brown suggested alternatives to the city’s dispatch system as a result of vendors no longer supporting the city’s dispatching software after December.

Contracting to outside municipalities and combining with surrounding services were among the suggestions that in March.

But on Thursday, Brown recommended to the council that dispatch service not be contracted outside of the city.

“My department is recommending keeping the services in the city, but we need to look into these new software programs,” Brown said, referring to a replacement for the existing software package.

Newer software in use nationwide prompts dispatchers to ask more situation-specific questions and provide more information to the caller than Kirkwood's existing software system.

Based on algorithms for medical and fire emergencies, callers are asked a series of questions that helps dispatchers immediately determine the severity of the call and the type of equipment needed.

“Essentially, we can have a dispatcher that is helping the caller,” Fire Chief Tom Openlander said. “If it is a medical emergency and we are en route, the dispatcher can give information to the caller about clearing airways, checking breathing.”

Police and fire officials said the new software would extend the length of each call slightly and require two dispatchers present on every shift (currently only one dispatcher works from 1 to 5 a.m.). However, Openlander said the extended call time provides a “zero-minute response time.”

“If it takes us a few minutes to get on site, this software provides the right kind of if-then, question-and-answer information that can allow the dispatcher to be the first responder, if you will.” Openlander said. “Calls might be slightly longer, but I think the service quality gets better.”

Software updates also would include laptops being placed in a small number of fire, medical and police vehicles. These mobile units can provide up-to-the-second information from dispatch as it is received.

In medical or fire emergencies, dispatchers can continue to gather information from a caller and update emergency responders immediately. For police, this means better and faster criminal investigation, Police Chief Jack Plummer said.

“If there is a stolen vehicle, the dispatch can send license numbers, warrant information and background all directly into the police vehicle laptop before an officer has even started the car,” Plummer said.

Mayor Art McDonnell indicated that adopting a more advanced system may require an increase in staffing and could encourage outside municipalities to contract dispatch services through Kirkwood.

“Our dispatchers do more than just answer the phones,” McDonnell said. “For those other duties, if they are going to be focused on the phones, we may need to look into additional personnel to handle the other work.”

Following the adoption of Brown’s recommendation, the city will begin working on legislation to adopt new software and equipment for dispatch.

The council’s decision to retain dispatch services elicited an emotional response from 26-year dispatcher Denise Cox.

“I just feel relief," Cox said, choking back tears as she thanked the council. "It's been a long four months (of research) and now we can breathe easy.”

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