captstanm1
04-26-2003, 08:35 AM
Palm Beach Post
Few praises for centralized dispatch system
By Nirvi Shah, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
WEST PALM BEACH -- Instead of praising a plan intended to save lives, cities large and small told county commissioners Tuesday that a centralized fire-rescue dispatch system could make their residents suffer.
County commissioners asked Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Chief Herman Brice last year to come up with a plan to centralize radio dispatch for the county, with incentives for cities to join, and set a minimum level of service throughout the county.
If all fire-rescue agencies could communicate, and they were all prepared to handle many situations, county dispatchers could unleash firefighters and paramedics from the station closest to an emergency regardless of city boundaries, Brice said.
"If you were able to utilize the resources of this county in a common way, you would save lives," he said.
Last year the county handled 94,000 emergency calls, but could accommodate up to 300,000 calls a year with the equipment and space it has now, Brice said. Cities wouldn't have to be a part of the county's dispatching, but the county would pay for the new equipment for cities and towns that do participate.
Commissioners asked Brice, with input from other agencies, to come up with an ordinance for minimum levels of service by December that the county would ask voters to approve next year. Voters must approve the plan because it would change the county's charter. Participating in central dispatch is voluntary for cities.
Cities have doubts that the plan would improve their service. "Bigger is not always better," said Duke Nelson, director of public safety for North Palm Beach.
Palm Springs Vice Mayor Bev Smith said routing calls through a county dispatcher could cost city rescue units precious seconds. With one county fire station to the north of her city, another to the south, but none immediately east, Palm Springs emergency personnel could be outside the city when they are needed by Palm Springs residents.
Cities don't have to participate, and "every city we've merged with, they have better response times today than they did before," Brice said.
Staffing a firetruck one way in one place might lengthen response times in another place, West Palm Beach Fire Chief Ray Carter said. He doesn't want to see some fire stations close or have city residents taxed twice for protection.
The system would appear to duplicate what Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach did when they merged police and fire communication systems two years ago, County Commissioner Mary McCarty said. Commissioner Burt Aaronson asked Brice to consider reimbursing agencies that already invested in a shared system.
"A lot of cities, especially south-county cities, have spent millions of dollars to get this," McCarty said. "Now we're talking about doing it for everybody?"
The plan did have some support.
"There's redundancy in the systems, literally, where fire stations are built right next to each other, and paramedics cannot go across the street because of jurisdiction," said Armand Nault, legislative director for the Professional Firefighters/Paramedics of Palm Beach County. "Maybe this is the process that gets everybody together."
nirvi_shah@pbpost.com
Few praises for centralized dispatch system
By Nirvi Shah, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
WEST PALM BEACH -- Instead of praising a plan intended to save lives, cities large and small told county commissioners Tuesday that a centralized fire-rescue dispatch system could make their residents suffer.
County commissioners asked Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Chief Herman Brice last year to come up with a plan to centralize radio dispatch for the county, with incentives for cities to join, and set a minimum level of service throughout the county.
If all fire-rescue agencies could communicate, and they were all prepared to handle many situations, county dispatchers could unleash firefighters and paramedics from the station closest to an emergency regardless of city boundaries, Brice said.
"If you were able to utilize the resources of this county in a common way, you would save lives," he said.
Last year the county handled 94,000 emergency calls, but could accommodate up to 300,000 calls a year with the equipment and space it has now, Brice said. Cities wouldn't have to be a part of the county's dispatching, but the county would pay for the new equipment for cities and towns that do participate.
Commissioners asked Brice, with input from other agencies, to come up with an ordinance for minimum levels of service by December that the county would ask voters to approve next year. Voters must approve the plan because it would change the county's charter. Participating in central dispatch is voluntary for cities.
Cities have doubts that the plan would improve their service. "Bigger is not always better," said Duke Nelson, director of public safety for North Palm Beach.
Palm Springs Vice Mayor Bev Smith said routing calls through a county dispatcher could cost city rescue units precious seconds. With one county fire station to the north of her city, another to the south, but none immediately east, Palm Springs emergency personnel could be outside the city when they are needed by Palm Springs residents.
Cities don't have to participate, and "every city we've merged with, they have better response times today than they did before," Brice said.
Staffing a firetruck one way in one place might lengthen response times in another place, West Palm Beach Fire Chief Ray Carter said. He doesn't want to see some fire stations close or have city residents taxed twice for protection.
The system would appear to duplicate what Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach did when they merged police and fire communication systems two years ago, County Commissioner Mary McCarty said. Commissioner Burt Aaronson asked Brice to consider reimbursing agencies that already invested in a shared system.
"A lot of cities, especially south-county cities, have spent millions of dollars to get this," McCarty said. "Now we're talking about doing it for everybody?"
The plan did have some support.
"There's redundancy in the systems, literally, where fire stations are built right next to each other, and paramedics cannot go across the street because of jurisdiction," said Armand Nault, legislative director for the Professional Firefighters/Paramedics of Palm Beach County. "Maybe this is the process that gets everybody together."
nirvi_shah@pbpost.com