Some Excerpts from 11/19/09 article at SMFD welcomes dispatch operators
"Just a few weeks before its dispatch center goes live for the first time in nearly three years, the Santa Monica Fire Department on Wednesday welcomed the people who will be responsible for fielding the emergency calls for the city. The first class for the reactivated center includes a communications supervisor and seven communications operators, coming with a diversity of experiences working in dispatching, some for private security companies, others for public entities, including the SMFD.
"The dispatch center is expected to come online sometime during the first two weeks of December.
"Challenged by a staffing shortage and outdated technological equipment, the center closed in early 2007 when the SMFD decided to merge dispatch operations with the Los Angeles Fire Department Regional Dispatch System to improve efficiency. The change, however, led to problems, including confusion caused by emergency calls that came from addresses that existed both in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. After nearly two years, the City Council in January decided to reactivate the old communications center in the Public Safety Facility, agreeing to address the issue that led to its deactivation in the first place, including staffing and equipment...."
And from there it goes into some specifics.
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"Just a few weeks before its dispatch center goes live for the first time in nearly three years, the Santa Monica Fire Department on Wednesday welcomed the people who will be responsible for fielding the emergency calls for the city. The first class for the reactivated center includes a communications supervisor and seven communications operators, coming with a diversity of experiences working in dispatching, some for private security companies, others for public entities, including the SMFD.
"The dispatch center is expected to come online sometime during the first two weeks of December.
"Challenged by a staffing shortage and outdated technological equipment, the center closed in early 2007 when the SMFD decided to merge dispatch operations with the Los Angeles Fire Department Regional Dispatch System to improve efficiency. The change, however, led to problems, including confusion caused by emergency calls that came from addresses that existed both in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. After nearly two years, the City Council in January decided to reactivate the old communications center in the Public Safety Facility, agreeing to address the issue that led to its deactivation in the first place, including staffing and equipment...."
And from there it goes into some specifics.
.
