Union-News (Springfield, MA)
Author: RICHARD NADOLSKI
CUMMINGTON, MA – Cummington is the first town in Hampshire County to formally accept the state police as their dispatching agents for the Enhanced-911 emergency response phone system being developed in the state by New England Telephone.
“I think we will probably end up being the spearhead of the system. I think other towns will probably come in line with us,” said Police Chief Raymond Vandoloski.
Towns have until next July to name their dispatching system and join E-911, which is an advanced and enhanced technological phone system which gives police dispatchers state-of-the-art capabilities.
In the new system, a phone call to the dispatcher or “Personal Safety Answering Point” will be received on a monitor which will display the phone number and address from where the emergency call is being made, as well as have voice contact.
Developing a county system
An E-911 committee of the Hampshire County Board of Commissioners has been working with communities during the past year to try to develop a countywide system. Committee member Goshen Fire Chief Francis Dresser said he is convinced that the state police have the best technical and organizational capabilities for dispatching the system and predicts many small communities will, like Cummington, choose it.
“After studying this for a year and a half, I’m convinced they’re the best to handle it. . . . This fits right into their natural scheme,” Dresser said.
An initial stumbling block to acceptance of an earlier bid by state police to act as local dispatchers was the small towns’ requirement that whomever dispatches their emergency calls also stay in contact with the emergency responder – whether fire, police or ambulance personnel – until the emergency has been handled. Dresser said that problem has been resolved and state police will be setting up a system of civilian dispatchers at some undetermined point to handle all incoming calls.
Dresser and Vandoloski said a key requirement in the state law governing the establishment of E-911 is that all emergency calls be answered within 10 seconds 90 percent of the time. Both said the state police were the only organization equipped to handle that requirement.