Task force to consider 911 surcharge

The Washington County E911 and Communications Commission met at the former Washington Public Library Monday night. Washington County Communications Supervisor Cara Sorrells updated the board and commission members about a number of developments affecting dispatchers.

Sorrells on surcharge

task force

Last month, the State Legislature passed a bill to reduce all counties? monthly landline surcharges to $1. Washington County was one of the few counties affected since its surcharge was $1.50, which goes to purchase 911 equipment. The bill called for the creation of a task force to study surcharges and to produce a report by December for the Legislature to consider the following year.

Sorrells said the task force consists of volunteers and does not have a set number of members. Sorrells has been attending the task force?s meetings, which are once a month. Its members include 911 dispatchers and people involved in emergency communications, as well as cell phone and landline providers.

She said it will be interesting to see what the task force recommends since its members want different things. Sorrells wants to return the law to what it was at the beginning of the year when counties could charge up to $2.50 per month. She said the cell phone and landline providers, on the other hand, want the landline charge to be much lower so it is in line with what cell phone users pay. Sorrells fears that the phone companies may push to take away local control over the landline surcharge and instead determine it at the state level.

Charging for free info

The E911 board heard about a company that is offering $90 per year to supply

information that the Washington County dispatch center is already offering for free. The company is called ?911 Emergency Assist.? Sorrells said she just learned of the company this week and what she has heard about it worries her.

She said the company will purportedly offer to collect personal data, such as a person?s medications or information about their home, and make it available to 911 dispatchers. Washington County already does exactly this at no charge, but it is only one of seven counties in the state that keep such a database. Anyone in the county can contact the communications center and inform a dispatcher of any personal information they wish, and this information will pop up automatically if the person calls 911.

?If you tell us you?re a diabetic, that will be in the notes that come up on the dispatcher?s screen along with your name and address,? Sorrells said. ?Some people tell us that they have flammable materials in their garage, or some people put in there that they have a growling dog in the house. They can tell us where they hide a key.?

The dispatch center does not collect this information unless a resident specifically requests it. Sorrells has spoken at nursing homes and service clubs in an effort to educate people about this service and to encourage them to use it. She worries that someone may sign up for 911 Emergency Assist without realizing they are already paying for the service. The Journal was unable to locate a Web site for 911 Emergency Assist.

WENS enrollment

Another program Sorrells has tried to educate the public about is the Wireless Emergency Notification System (WENS). Washington County began using the program one year ago to notify residents of emergencies via phone calls, text messages and e-mails. Sorrells said she has now spoken to city officials in every town in the county about the program as well as several schools in the county.

?You?d think it would be daunting to get all of a town?s citizens in there, but it?s actually very easy,? Sorrells said. ?We can export the information from water bills into WENS. If water is turned off in your city for an hour, you can use WENS to notify all the citizens.?

Sorrells said that about 12,000 devices in Washington County now receive WENS alerts. She said she?s pleased that so many people have joined it and that the number could grow even higher.