Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Failed 911 System Gets Help

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 09:19:50 -0400

WESH NewsChannel 2 and NewsChannel2000.com your best choice for local news in Central
Florida.

Failed 911 System Gets Help
Thu May 8, 2:21 PM ET

A WESH NewsChannel 2 investigation that found major problems with
Seminole County's new 911 system has learned of more problems with the
system, and how one city is helping officials fix the computerized program's
inconsistencies.

In the investigation,WESH NewsChannel 2 found
that your address could delay firefighters and
paramedics when you really need them -- during
an emergency.

In Seminole County, homes are going up at the
rate of more than 100 a month -- homes that
dispatchers have to find quickly in an emergency.

But a WESH NewsChannel 2 investigation found
a third of the addresses from emergency calls
didn't show up on a new $500,000 computer
dispatch system put into use in October.

Chris Brodie, a Winter Springs homeowner, experienced the inefficiencies of
the new 911 system.

"We had to explain to them the new neighborhood," Brodie said.

According to Emergency Communications dispatcher Frank Kirk, some
cities, including Winter Springs, never told Seminole County emergency
dispatchers about new neighborhoods, which meant that hundreds of
addresses were missing from the new dispatching system.

"There was no consistent method for the municipalities to transmit their
information to the county," Kirk said.

Due to the lack of addresses, dispatcher response times tripled, according
to Seminole County Fire Department Lt. Ted Shistle.

"It's one of the most frustrating things that can happen in our line of work,"
Shistle said. "Our line of work is to help people in need and we can't do
anything until we get there."

Besides Brodie's neighborhood, many streets in apartment complexes and
private roads also didn't show up on dispatchers' maps -- forcing dispatchers
and emergency personnel to look the addresses up by hand.

"I don't have a specific number, but I can tell you there are many places that
won't show up on the map today," Kirk said.

Due to the inconsistencies of the computer-assisted server, the county
stopped using the new mapping system -- a crucial part of the pricey new
computerized dispatch program.

But that isn't the end of the problems. According to Kirk, in Brodie's
neighborhood, some of the homes have apartment garages, and the only
way to get to them is from the back of the house, off the alley, which doesn't
have a street address.

"We have a major concern that if a call was received from that apartment ...
not from the front home ... we couldn't find them," Kirk said.

Now, Winter Springs is giving addresses to the alleys, and Brodie is ready
to put the numbers up on his alley-side apartment.

Firefighters across Seminole County are verifying every address and should
be finished by this summer. The information will then be transferred into the
new mapping system.

For now, dispatchers are using the old address system to make sure
they get the right address, in the quickest amount of time as possible.

Seminole County has set up a phone number citizens can call to find if
their address has been updated.

To find out if dispatchers have your address correct, call (407)
665-5100.

 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20030508/lo_wesh/1608800