Crittenden County 911 recognized for training

Crittenden County 911 recognized for training

Dispatch Center earns high marks for Smart911, Rave Panic Button

news@theeveningtimes.com

When Ronnie Sturch took over as director of the county’s 911 Emergency Dispatch Center in July he had a goal in mind of making it one of the best in the state.

And one of the ways to do that was to ensure that every employee had the best possible training.

This week, the county dispatch center achieved a distinction that no other county 911 center in the state has — a 100 percent compliance rate in Smart911 and Rave Panic Button training.

“I believe in certification and training,” Sturch said.

“Training is the key to everything and when that call comes in I want them to know the proper way to handle that call.”

Sturch made sure that all 12 dispatchers completed the online training course to get certified in the Smart 911 system.

“We were familiar with the system and how it works,” Sturch said.” But they hadn’t officially gotten their certification. So I wanted to make sure they got that.”

Smart 911 is a free nationwide service that provides police, fire, and first responders with additional information about a person and members of their household that could help in an emergency.

The service enables citizens to create a safety profile which contains data about an individual or family such as medical conditions or allergies, disabilities, special needs, the number of people in the household, photos, emergency contact information, pets and more which automatically pops up on the dispatcher’s screen when they call 911.

The information can be used to alert fire crews about how many people are in the home and the location of bedrooms, or so EMS crews can know about any medical conditions for faster treatment.

Photos can also be added to help assist police in cases of missing children or loved ones.

Sturch said Smart 911 is an invaluable public safety tool.

Sadly, only about 200 people in Crittenden County have signed up for Smart 911 so far.

“Our participation rate in the county is extremely low,” Sturch said. “We just haven’t gotten the word out like we should.”

He would like to see that number increase.

Residents can create a safety profile by going to www.smart911.com.

“They can provide as little or as much information as they want,” Sturch said. “If they have a life threatening allergy — someone is allergic to peanuts — they can put that in there. It immediately shows up under their medical profile. There are so many things they can provide to us that we can give to first responders before they get on the scene.

It is just a really beneficial thing. We need to get that participation rate up. People don’t realize how important it is to do that.”

Sturch said the county dispatch center also has a 100 percent compliance rate for the Rave Panic Button.

Rave Panic Button is a mobile safety emergency notification system used by school employees to send out alerts by cell phone, landlines, social media and to first responders to instantly alert the population about an incident on campus.

When an employee activates the Rave Panic Button, a 911 call is placed and emergency notifications are sent out to recipients about the location and type of emergency. The 911 operator then has access to floor plans, emergency contact and other information about the campus, and the ability to send notifications to recipients.

Arkansas implemented Rave Panic Button in August 2015 for all K-12 schools across the state.

The system covers over 250 schools, 1,200 campuses, 4,200 buildings, and 37,000 school employees.

“We now have 100 percent compliance,” Sturch said.

“So all of our dispatchers are completely certified in Smart 911 and the Rave Panic Button system.”

J.P. French, who is charge of the Smart 911 and Rave Panic Button for Arkansas, was on hand Wednesday to personally hand out the certificates and congratulate Sturch and the dispatchers.

“He wanted to come present the certificates in person,” Sturch said. “We are one of the few — if the only one — that has 100 percent compliance,” Sturch said. “He made the statement that this will be a model for the rest of the state.”

Sturch said this is just one of many certifications that he is working on for the dispatch center.

“There is nothing that mandates that we be certified,” Sturch said. “But if we have the system we are going to utilize it and I want us to be as knowledgeable about the system as we can.”

Sheriff Mike Allen praised the dispatchers and the work that Sturch is doing to improve the center.

“Ronnie has done an amazing job in the last couple of months,” Allen said.

“You look at the whole department and it is just shining. He has done so much to get us to where we need to be technolgy-wise. He’s got everybody up to date and certified. He has found grant money. He has just done a great job with that communication center to get it to where it needs to be. It is top notch.”

By Mark Randall