Henry County interested in using Washington County dispatch

The Washington County Emergency 911 board met Monday and learned that neighboring Henry County is interested in farming out its dispatch service to another county, possibly Washington County. Board member Wes Rich said he sits on some of the same regional boards as Henry County supervisor Kent White and that the two discussed emergency communications at a recent meeting.

In an interview Tuesday, White said Henry County has been informed that it must upgrade equipment for its dispatchers and in its sheriff?s office. He said the supervisors are in the process of deciding if they want to make the $30,000 investment in new equipment or employ the services of another county to do its dispatching.

The equipment in question is known as a VIPER system (Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders), which routes 911 calls. The Washington Communications Center will install a VIPER system in September. White said that once Washington?s VIPER system is up and running, it could ?easily assume the dispatch responsibilities of a goodly number of counties.?

?We?re not of the opinion that we need a VIPER system of our own,? White said. ?It?s totally unnecessary.?

White said what could happen under an agreement between the two counties is that when someone dials 911 in Henry County it goes to the Washington Communications Center. A Washington County dispatcher would then be responsible for directing Henry County authorities to the scene of the call.

?If the dispatcher receives a call from, let?s say a house fire in Salem, they would make the appropriate calls to the fire department and the sheriff?s department,? White said. ?In the old days, dispatchers would know the house was 2 miles west of Smith?s corner, or something like that. Local knowledge was so important. Now that we have the 911 system, we use strictly addresses. A dispatcher in Washington County could easily assume the responsibilities of a Henry County dispatcher and vice versa.?

White said Henry County may farm out its dispatch service for part of the day, just on the weekends or perhaps all day, every day. White said he doesn?t know how Washington County would handle the additional calls. He said the Washington County Communications Center may need to hire more employees or put in extra consoles.

?This could be a win-win situation,? White said. ?Washington County or Lee County could have increased revenues and Henry County could contract out for a fee less than the cost of the upgrade to our dispatch center.?

White said Henry County employs six full-time dispatchers.

?If everything worked out, we could go from six full-time employees to zero,? he said. ?That is, if the county with the VIPER system wants to assume responsibility.?

Washington Communications supervisor Cara Sorrells said she is aware of Henry County?s desires. She said Henry County could tap into Washington County?s VIPER system without affecting Washington County at all. However, she said that if Washington County were responsible for taking Henry County?s 911 calls and dispatching Henry County personnel, her office would need another full console. E911 board member Terry Philips said he was worried that taking calls from two counties would overburden the dispatchers.

Sorrells informed the board Monday that Henry County has only one dispatcher on duty at a time, unlike Washington County which has two during the day. She said Henry County receives approximately 4,700 911 calls in a year, which is less than half of what Washington County receives at approximately 10,000 calls per year. Washington County?s population is only 8 percent larger than Henry County?s, according to the 2010 census. Washington County has a population of about 21,700 and Henry County has a population of about 20,100.