SMFD dispatch ditch seen as step forward
PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY Frenzied residents calling 911 may find some solace in the revamped emergency response system, thanks to a new partnership with the Los Angeles Fire Department.
In addition to shortening the time it takes to deploy fire trucks and ambulances to the scene, callers will be able to receive medical advice from trained dispatchers while para-medics are en route, potentially saving lives that might have been lost under the former system, which had just one dispatcher available to answer all incoming calls to the Santa Monica Fire Department.
Under the new partnership, which went into effect Jan. 23 at 10:05 a.m., all calls to the SMFD are now handled by the City of Los Angeles’ Regional Dispatch Center, which has 25 operators, two captains and one battalion chief employing state-of-the-art equipment to handle multiple calls and direct resources throughout the region more efficiently in the event of a terrorist attack or natural disaster.
In the past, the SMFD had only one dispatcher per 12-hour shift who was charged with handling all calls. With roughly 10,500 such calls coming through yearly, the job had become overwhelming, compromising public safety, according to SMFD Chief Jim Hone. On top of that, communications equipment used by the SMFD was outdated.
“We couldn’t get to other 911 calls quick enough with one dispatcher,” said Hone. “Now we have the ability to help callers through childbirth, a heart attack or any other type of emergency they face. We couldn’t do that with one dispatcher. You can’t be in the middle of helping someone through CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and then 911 rings in you go, ‘Hold on a minute, I’ll be right back.’
“You just can’t do that.” Hone emphasized that all 911 calls are still being handled by the Santa Monica Police Department, which determines what services a caller needs. If it is determined that the caller is in need of the firefighters or paramedics, the call is transferred to downtown Los Angeles, where operators there will answer, “Fire/paramedics, what is your emergency?”
When things are running smoothly, Hone and other officials said a caller will never know the difference.
Roughly three years ago, city officials began looking at a number of strategies for increasing dispatch capacity, from hiring more staff members to linking up with neighboring cities such as Culver City and Beverly Hills. Eventually, it was determined that the best idea would be to join a regional dispatch system, a recommendation made by the 9/11 Commission and the Los Angeles Area Fire Chiefs Association, which is comprised of fire chiefs from 31 municipalities in Los Angeles County.
Through the association, SMFD was able to secure $2.4 million in “no match” grant funding that was made available through the Department of Homeland Security.
Currently, there are six regional dispatch centers, which work together to move resources from one city to another in the event of an emergency, such as a large brush fire or an earthquake. When one city’s resources are overwhelmed, chiefs at the dispatch centers can quickly move a fire truck or two to that city to provide added support, something known as “automatic aid.”
“Any move to a more regional approach to public safety is a benefit,” said Jon McDuffie, the first vice president of United Fire Fighters Los Angeles. “This allows us to work more closely together in times when there is automatic aid to Santa Monica or Los Angeles. This helps us respond better to incidents and helps our operability.”
In addition to extra personnel, the agreement with Los Angeles offers the SMFD more radio channels with which to communicate. In the past, firefighters had just three channels — one dedicated to tactical operations, another to dispatch and a third strictly for firefighters to use in case they were trapped underneath a collapsed roof or found themselves in another life-threatening situation.
“We can now have two or three incidents going on in the city at one time and we won’t be stepping on each other’s toes,” said Deputy Fire Chief Bruce Davis, who was in charge of overseeing the switch. “We had only three channels for the last 40 years.”
In addition to the contract with Los Angeles, the $2.4 million grant also helped pay for new radios, computers and other technology firefighters use daily. Some of that money was also used to pay for services, resulting in a savings for City Hall, according to Davis.
“With all the things that were broken or outdated, we would have been in really dire straights if they were not taken care of with this grant,” Davis said. “We would have had to spent around $2 million just upgrading our communications systems, so the timing couldn’t have been better for the transfer.
“Everything has been replaced with the best equipment available.”
To operate the SMFD dispatch center in 2005, City Hall was paying $551,000, which included salaries, benefits, overtime and equipment maintenance contracts, according to a city staff report.
The current contract with Los Angeles is similar in size, but Davis said City Hall will eventually save money as more cities join in, helping subsidize the costs for one another.
No dispatchers lost their jobs due to the transfer, Davis said. The old dispatch center is now being used as storage space for city staff and could become offices for future SMFD employees.
With any transfer of that magnitude, there will naturally be problems. Davis said there was a slight computer glitch the first day the transfer was made, but that was fixed immediately without any major problems. He also said that one resident called in and heard an old recording that let people know they had reached the LAFD.
“The guy was taken aback,” Davis said. “He thought he had called Santa Monica and ended up getting Los Angeles. That was actually one of the very few oversights that we missed. We immediately corrected the recording.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 10, 2007. Read the original PDF.