Fire in a Building Liberty, MO 200 N 291HWY 05-25-14 (KCFD Auto-Aide)

[npfd801]

This is interesting to read about the complexity of some of the dispatch centers as well as apparatus designations and mutual aid assignments.  I can't think of a single Virginia locality that isn't dispatched by a countywide PSAP.  We're also unique in the nation that every one of our cities are independent of the county (only others in the US are Baltimore, St Louis, and Las Vegas), so cities dispatch themselves as well.

 

That being said, I am impressed with the MABAS and the way that it's grown over the past 20 years.

Honestly - I think if MABAS Illinois could secure funding to dispatch all of us in regional dispatch centers it would be amazing, but that really isn't their mission.  The assets they've secured from grant monies for our collective use is impressive as hell.  They do have a MABAS dispatch center (RED center) but that's primarily to mobilize their assets if needed state wide.

 

I know a lot of places have lots of advantages over us and how they operate.  I'm just thankful to have enough budget to run a department with some part time staffing, that has safe and modern equipment.  Our buildings are a little old but will suffice until we can work out the details to build a new centralized station to replace two older buildinds that are located at the corners of my response area.

 

There will be a new county sheriff soon, perhaps he'll see the merit of county wide dispatch since the county side of the 911 center is under his kingdom.  I'm not holding my breath.  I could pay Rockford Fire to do it, but they are not cheap, and my current dispatch agreement which allows a hospital based ambo to be parked in one of my firehouses ends up costing me a total of zero dollars a year.  I have a dispatch center, which while isn't perfect, gives me two 24/7 dispatchers that only handle us (1500 calls a year) and an ambulance, that probably run 6,000 to 7,000 calls a year, if that.  Rockford Fire handles dispatching for the city of Rockford and a number of suburban departments with two people as well.  Their volume has to exceed 35,000 a year for all fire calls they handle...