Emergency Personnel and Community Leaders Meet to Discuss Improvement in the Countywide Dispatch System

By M. C. Millman

Earlier  today, Town of Ramapo Supervisor Michael Specht, Sheriff Louis Falco, Rockland County Executive Ed Day, and local ambulance agencies met to discuss upcoming improvements and changes involving the countywide dispatch system.

The meeting took place at the  Rockland County Fire And Emergency - 44 Control Training Center in Pomona.

The upcoming changes include adjustments that are expected to reduce the amount of time a 911 call takes. With the adjustment, there will be no time lost in having the call transferred to the appropriate county, which is what happens under the present system. Instead,  911 calls will go directly to the dispatchers who will be in the same room, thereby reducing response time and helping to improve patient outcomes.

Additionally, Ramapo will be switching to the new Emergency Medical Dispatch, a nationally recognized system, which will be instituted to reserve resources and ensure the right resources are sent to the right patient at the right time. The present system requires paramedics at every single call, which can mean that paramedics aren't available for the calls they are really needed at. Under the new system, paramedics won't be dispatched initially. They will only be sent after the EMTs get there and put out a call that they are needed.  

"This is a very exciting change that a lot of work and effort was put in by the Town of Ramapo, the County Executives Office, and the Sheriff Dept communication division," Joshua Hans, Program Coordinator for the Office of Emergency Preparedness, tells Rockland Daily. " We are really looking forward to this exciting improvement for public safety in the Town of Ramapo."

The improvements in the dispatch system are expected to begin in July.