Bob Greenlaw is the director of Blaine County Emergency Communications.
By BOB GREENLAW
Thank you for your editorial comments advocating the use of an emergency telephone notification system in Blaine County. Please allow me to clear up any misunderstandings about the history of such a system's use last summer and how it relates to our E-911 system in the county.
"Reverse 9-1-1" is a registered trademark of one company that is in the emergency notification business. During the Castle Rock Fire last summer, this company's services were used by Blaine County to make telephone notifications of a pre-recorded message giving evacuation information to residents in the affected area. The county paid for this service on a one-time basis. Volunteers—while they played a very important role during the fire—were not used in this process.
Since then, the county has been investigating various companies that provide a similar service in order to obtain one we feel best suits our needs and is the most cost effective. We are near to a final decision and will have a system in place this spring. When the system is installed, we will issue a press release so our local media can inform our constituents how it can be used to best serve them in providing accurate emergency information.
The trademark name "Reverse 9-1-1" implies the system is connected somehow with our E-911 system. This is not the case. The real implication is that the same public safety communications people who are responsible for the E-911 system can use a "Reverse 9-1-1" type system to place emergency notification calls to residents and/or businesses.
The E-911 system, which is funded in part by telephone surcharges, has been in active service in Blaine County since 2006. The term "E-911" relates to "enhanced" 9-1-1 service. This "enhanced" service provides the caller's name, phone number, and location when they dial 9-1-1 from a land-based phone. This is very useful in situations where a caller may not be able to speak and, in every case, provides for a quicker and more accurate public safety response. The location is automatically displayed on an electronic map and assists in cutting down response time. Additionally, Blaine County, provides Phase 2 wireless 9-1-1 service, which spots the location of a cellular caller in the dispatch center, again, using the electronic mapping system. Our county was one of the first in Idaho, and remains one of the few, that provides its citizens with Phase 2 wireless 9-1-1 services.
In December, the two 9-1-1 centers in Blaine County—one in Ketchum and one at the sheriff's office in Hailey—were consolidated to provide a more efficient service. This consolidation had been a long-term goal in the valley and is the first step in relocating to a new state-of-the-art dispatch facility currently under construction in the new county public safety facility on Airport Way in Hailey. This building is scheduled for completion and occupancy this summer. Once again, we will issue a press release and offer public tours of the new facility when it opens.
It is most important the public have confidence in the 9-1-1 system and not hesitate to use it in an emergency to hasten public safety's response. I welcome any opportunity for public education and thank you for providing this forum.
