Maricopa’s Fire Department is now part of the Phoenix Fire Department’s Regional Dispatch System. The service provides fire and emergency medical dispatching services for 20 jurisdictions directly and three entities indirectly, including the Ak-Chin and Gila River communities. It covers 2,200 square miles and receives over 750,000 calls per year.
Ron Burch of the Phoenix Fire Department Tech Service was at last week’s city council meeting to explain the service and the dispatch process. “This erases jurisdictional boundaries and ensures the highest level of care,” he said.
The dispatch center utilizes a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), which reduces response time and ultimately saves lives. Personnel are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week; all are EMD certified and able to provide self-help instructions to callers as needed.
“It is difficult in a short statement to explain properly the overall importance of the Regional Dispatch System and Automatic Aid to the citizens of the City of Maricopa. Suffice to say it will greatly enhance the overall efficiency of our Fire Department and thereby increase the safety of everyone who lives in the City. It is a major step forward for the Department and the City,” Fire Chief William Kelleher told 85239.
How will the system work for Maricopans? When an individual dials 911 to report an emergency, the call will go first to local law enforcement. If fire and/or medical services are required, that agency transfers the call to the dispatch center where the CAD system takes over. This is accomplished within seconds.
CAD knows where every piece of equipment is located at all times, using global positioning technology (Automatic Vehicle Location or AVL). The closest unit is dispatched.
For example, if the incident taker receives a drowning call, he or she can reassure the individual on the phone that the responding unit is a mile away, then half a mile, and so on.
Additionally, the dispatch center uses 241 “nature” codes to define the exact nature of the emergency, bringing in the most appropriate services needed. Nature codes include, for example, “dog bites, structure fires, difficulty breathing, drowning, gunshot wounds and altered states of consciousness,” according to the dispatch center.
According to Kelleher, being part of the Phoenix Regional Dispatch System and in partnership with major fire departments in Arizona is another step toward achieving excellence as a department. He publicly credited Assistant Chief Wade Brannon as “the brains of this.”
Providing the “absolute best customer service and care” is the goal of the dispatch center. Vice-Mayor Brent Murphree thanked Kelleher and the department for taking the initiative to become part of the Phoenix Regional Dispatch System.
“It solves a great problem we have here in Maricopa,” Murphree said.
Photos by Joyce Hollis
