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County 911 set to expand
2 dispatchers will be hired
Source:
Butler Eagle
Written by:
Tom Victoria
Published:
August 11, 2010
Butler County is poised to hire two new 911 dispatchers to handle an increasing workload.
Frank Matis, director of county emergency services, said in an interview the new staff will alleviate the overtime hours being worked now.
So far this year, the county has paid 1,140 overtime hours for the department's 16 full-time dispatchers. For 2009, the overtime totaled 2,419 hours.
A full complement of dispatchers covers a total of 98 shifts in one week. In addition to the four workers assigned to each day's regular shifts, there are others on overlapping shifts.
Matis said 11 of those 98 shifts are now covered by part-timers and full-timers working overtime.
"Even before people take their vacations, there are 11 open shifts," Matis said.
The full-time dispatchers have a total of 345 vacation days and 41 personal days.
And the 12 part-time dispatchers have to work around their full-time jobs elsewhere.
"We stagger our shifts to cover our busy times," Matis said.
While the total number of 911 calls increased by less than 2,000 from 2008 to 2009, there was a significant shift from landline to wireless calls from cell phones.
Matis said the 63,044 wireless calls in 2009, which comprise most of the total 92,079 calls for the year, is a hike from 2008 when they made up about 50 percent of all 911 calls.
He pointed out wireless calls take longer to dispatch emergency services.
"They take a little more time to handle," Matis said.
Between 10 percent and 20 percent of all wireless calls to 911 do not generate locations because of gaps in cell phone coverage in the county.
For those calls, the dispatchers must rely on the callers to provide accurate locations.
Even the calls that can be pinpointed electronically take up to 40 seconds before a location is identified.
The proliferation of cell phones also means there are numerous 911 calls for the same emergency.
"We might get 10 to 15 calls for one accident," Matis said.
He said the dispatch center once received 25 calls for one incident.
The two new jobs, which are budgeted for 2010, will start at $17 an hour.
Although the jobs were budgeted, Matis said the county was waiting on funding approval from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.
Under PEMA's 2010-11 budget, the county will receive more than $1 million in quarterly payments of $267,792.
PEMA distributes money collected from cell phone bills assessing customers $1 each month.
The state formulates a specific amount to fund counties based on their respective budgets.
The county also receives money directly from phone companies providing landline service and transmitting calls over the Internet.
While the county sets the 911 fee for landline phone numbers, $1.25 a month, the state lowered that amount for service falling under the Voice over Internet Protocol.
Armstrong, which is the main VoIP phone provider in the county, only pays the county $1 a month for each number.
The county in 2009 received a total of $1.2 million from landlines and Internet phone lines.
Matis said at the salary board meeting Monday that number decreased because the state superseded the counties for VoIP 911 fees.
"That was a $100,000 hit to the county," he said.
He said during the interview the total payments from the phone companies hit a peak of $1.5 million in 2000.
The county salary board, which is comprised by the three county commissioners and county controller, is set to create the new posts at Wednesday's meeting.
Commissioner James Kennedy said in an interview the budgeted posts will help ease the overtime costs while ensuring emergency needs are met.
"That's the heart of Butler County emergency services," he said about the dispatch center.
Commissioner Jim Lokhaiser agreed.
"They just need help up there," he said.
Commissioner Dale Pinkerton and Controller Jack McMillin were absent from Monday's meeting and will not attend Wednesday's session.
Deputy Controller Debbie Huth said unless something changes, she will support the move on behalf of McMillin.
Pending salary board approval, Matis hopes to fill the jobs within the next two weeks.
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