The McKean County 911 Center received some new technology, according to Deputy Director Joel Anderson.
Anderson says the acquisition of a new Computer Aided Dispatch System from Tyler Technologies was the highlight of the implementation of upgrades.
“After two years of research and planning, followed by six months of diligent work entering data into the system we went live with the new system on December 4, 2018,” said Anderson.
The new system replaces one that has served the center for around a decade.
The CAD system was acquired as part of a regional shared services project with several other counties, including McKean, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, and Warren counties.
“All of the participating counties had aging systems that were either end of life, which means that they would no longer have vendor support moving forward, or were at the point where a significant upgrade was necessary to keep them running,” Anderson explained.
He added that the systems used across the counties varied in features and functions, and were not able to be linked without a sizable investment in software that would allow the systems to communicate.
The funding for the project was secured through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency; 911 Bureau from what is also referred to as the 15% fund.
He said, “From the $1.65 911 surcharge that is collected per device (landline, wireless, and VoIP), 83% of the total collected is distributed to the counties in quarterly payments.”
The Commonwealth retains 2% of the collected surcharges for administrative costs while the remaining 15% is then applied for by the counties as a grant process for statewide interconnectivity projects, such as shared 911 telephone systems, computer aided dispatch systems, and network interconnectivity projects between counties.
“The goal is for counties to share resources, which leads to a cost savings for the individual counties, both for the initial investment and for annual recurring maintenance contract costs,” Anderson.
The center also received Priority Dispatch System’s Emergency Fire Dispatch and Emergency Police Dispatch protocols to go along with the Emergency Medical Dispatch protocols that have been in place for several years.
“These protocols are used internationally and standardize taking approaches to law enforcement and fire service incidents, gather critical information in a more organized and thorough manner, and allowing us to provide potentially lifesaving scripted instructions to the callers prior to the arrival of emergency responders,” Anderson explained.
Examples of pre-arrival instructions include CPR and AED use for cardiac arrests, bleeding control measures, instructions to assist people exiting structure fires, self-rescue instructions for occupants of vehicles that enter waterways and may be sinking, and life safety instructions for active assailant incidents.
