The Communications Catastrophe

[Unregistered]

Lauderdale is leaving and so will others. They will do it in the heat of the campaign. Count on it. Unless this sheriff take control and clean house, it will haunt him. His people fouled it up and thy don't want to admit that they tried to re invent a wheel that was not broken, only needed a little oil. It called failure. Own up to it and move forward.

It's too late. Dump this cess pool now, before it impacts the election. Plantation, Coral Springs, Lauderdale and now Margate.

[Unregistered]

t must be said. Plantation and Coral Springs were right and we were wrong when we encouraged their city leaders — with all the might of our keyboards — to join Broward County's new regional 911 emergency response system and end the scourge of dropped or delayed calls.

As it turns out, the emergency response times in those two cities, according to their leaders, have been better than in the county's.

Meanwhile, as recently reported by Sun Sentinel reporters Brittany Wallman and Linda Trischitta, the county's new regional dispatch system not infrequently struggles to connect panicked callers with the emergency help they need.

During the first nine months of the county's regional 911 system, the Sun Sentinel's investigation found dispatchers sometimes sent first responders to the wrong addresses and the wrong city; that the hand-held radio system used by police and fire has experienced dangerous failures; and that during the busiest hour of the day, dispatchers have yet to meet a monthly standard of answering 90 percent of calls within 10 seconds.

Broward citizens deserve better. We demand better.
cComments

@Public Safety Telecommunicator county = won't pay more than the minimum. County= 911 is the equivalent to calling fpl County=over paid clueless morons
dirtyyou
at 4:39 PM July 29, 2015

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Sure, the new system has had some success. It has reduced the number of call transfers, the problem it was created to solve. Before, panicked cellphone users sometimes were transferred two and three times before they finally reached a dispatcher in the right city. Sometimes, their calls were dropped. Always, their stories were chilling.

Still, it's insufficient to herald that the new system answers 90 percent of emergency calls within 10 seconds. That's like saying an 11-inch ruler is close enough. And with 911 calls, we're talking about people's lives.

Though fewer than 1 percent of the 1.4 million calls have drawn complaints so far this year, we're still potentially talking about 14,000 complaints.

The Broward Sheriff's Office, which has contracted to run the system, should have anticipated the problems that have surfaced during the transition to a regional dispatch system.

Now, without delay, BSO must better train its dispatchers. This includes better training on:

• the geography of our communities, including which cities have streets with common names and which landmarks are associated with which bodies of water.

• how to gather the essential information needed by paramedics to ensure the best outcomes.

• the protocols for when to call local law enforcement agencies, along with emergency medical personnel.

It's also jaw-dropping to learn that the dispatch radio system for police and fire remains hit-or-miss.

"These ongoing problems (outages and static) have been and continue to be a hindrance to officer and public safety," wrote Wilton Manors Police Chief Paul O'Connell in a letter to Broward County Administrator Bertha Henry, on behalf of the Broward County Chiefs of Police Association.

Turns out the radios are old and hard to repair. Rick Carpani, who oversees the county's communications and technology office, told our reporters that the Motorola radio system is at the "end of life," a problem known before the regional system began.

Carpani said he expects a new radio system to be tested in 2018. What? 2018? How is it possible that more than a decade after our nation's worst terrorist attack, a proper radio system remains so far away? Given the federal grants that have been available, the tax increases that have been imposed and the record-high revenues now anticipated by the county and its cities, it is imperative that regional leaders come together and make solving the radio problem Job One.

Like most of you, this editorial board was a big supporter of a regional emergency dispatch system. That is why we criticized Plantation and Coral Springs for refusing to join. At the time, their mayors sounded parochial and protective of city jobs. But they also said they wanted to first see how the new system worked. On that measure, they were right to proceed with caution.

Today, Broward has a new regional system that may keep calls from getting dropped, delayed or misdirected, but it lacks the safety-net oversight needed to address ill-equipped dispatchers and age-old radios.

Upon their return from an extended summer vacation, Broward commissioners face no greater issue than the failings of the county's emergency response system.

Let them be motivated by the cries of a caller whose dispatcher sent paramedics to the wrong address:

"Why are they not here already?"

Did we ever get those additional budget millions yet? If so (and it wasn’t spent) might I suggest new uniforms? Preferably dark blue trousers, white shirts?