Liz Goldsmith of Harvard jots down notes while at her job at the new regional dispatch center in Devens. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Beginning two days before Halloween, 911 calls made from Harvard will no longer be answered by dispatchers in Harvard. Instead, dispatchers at the new Nashoba Valley Regional Emergency Communications Center will handle all fire, police, and ambulance calls from town residents. Harvard joins Devens, Lancaster, and Lunenburg as the last of the four “charter towns” to move to the new dispatch center.
The center, located at 270 Barnum Road in Devens, opened on June 18; the switch becomes official on Oct. 29. Nine full-time dispatchers (four of whom are dispatch supervisors), and one per-diem dispatcher will staff the center 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are at least two dispatchers on duty at all times, and one of those is typically a dispatch supervisor. Eight of the nine full-time dispatchers came from the charter towns and have “extensive experience in dispatching,” according to Dispatch Supervisor Peter Kinnas.
Learning details of member towns
On a recent visit by the Press, Kinnas explained how the dispatchers learned the details of the four towns they’ll support. “We met weekly as a group and learned about each other’s towns and departments—giving presentations and going on ride-alongs,” he said.
Dispatcher Elizabeth Goldsmith, a former Harvard dispatcher who now works at the center, told the Press she had personally driven her co-workers around Harvard. “I showed them locations I thought they should be familiar with, like Town Hall, Hildreth House, the schools, the soccer fields, the beach, the orchards, Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, and the Still River Fire Station.” Other dispatchers returned the favor by driving her around Lancaster and Lunenburg, she said, and Deputy Fire Chief Kelly gave everyone a tour of Devens. The Department of Defense even gave the staff passes for buildings located at the South Post training area.
State of the art consoles
At the heart of the center are five dispatch consoles. Looking like miniature command centers, each is equipped with six monitors, and each monitor performs a unique function. One shows caller locations on a map, another is a touch screen that summons the various fire, police or ambulance services of each town with a single touch. Dispatcher Goldsmith is happy with the new system. “It flows a little easier, and it’s quicker getting information out. It’s easy to relay a message from town A to town B.”
Dispatcher Peter Kinnas works with multiple monitors to answer emergency calls.
The centerpiece of each console is a monitor dedicated to the Power Phone Total Response system for medical emergencies. Even though all of the dispatchers at the regional center are Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) trained and certified, this system guides them through medical situations “from nose bleeds to cardiac arrest” according to Kinnas. For instance, the first few questions asked ascertain the patient’s age and whether or not the patient is breathing. If the patient isn’t breathing, age-based CPR instructions pop up on the monitor, and the dispatcher can immediately instruct the caller on how to start resuscitation. Meanwhile, the second dispatcher can page the ambulance crew, sending them an address and information about the situation, which can be updated in real time as it develops. Each member of the responding crew sends an “I-am-responding” message via an app on a smartphone, letting the dispatcher and other responders know whether they’re going to the station or directly to the address of the emergency. In addition, dispatch can tell how soon each crew member will arrive at the destination. This tandem approach to dispatch, along with EMD trained dispatchers and the Power Phone system, offer a new level of medical dispatch service for Harvard and the other charter towns.
Other features of the center include a training room that holds 30 to 40 people. It’s currently being used for dispatch training, but the staff wants to run other classes there, such as CPR. The room is available for anyone in the district to use. There’s also a kitchenette, lockers and showers, in the event that dispatchers need to stay at the center for long periods of time, such as during a weather-related emergency.
Devens Deputy Fire Chief Tim Kelly said that the Devens transition, made on June 25, was pretty smooth. “There are always bumps in the road, but they’ve been very quick to address any issues we’ve had,” said Kelly. He said that the equipment terminology used in the different towns is one of the bumps. Dispatch Supervisor Kinnas explained. “Lunenburg Rescue 1 is an ambulance, while Lancaster Rescue 1 is a fire truck that does not transport patients. We have now all become familiar with each town’s apparatus names and functions.” The terminology issue is also bringing a change to the way that the Harvard Police communicate with each other. According to Harvard Police Chief Ed Denmark, Harvard Police are switching from using “ten-codes” to using plain language.
Ten-codes, which at one time were used by most law enforcement officers, consist of a “10”, followed by another number. Each ten-code represents a situation, but the codes were never standardized. In one town, a 10-59 might mean an “open window or door;” in another, “an armed subject.” After 9/11, the Dept. of Homeland Security implemented the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and suggested that ten-codes be dropped in favor of plain language to avoid confusion between police departments. This is particularly important in regional dispatch centers.
Tracking volunteers
As part of the new system, a wall monitor connected to the regional system was installed at the Devens Fire Station. When a call comes in, the monitor shows who is responding to the call, and their estimated time of arrival (ETA). “It’s not that important to us, since we’re all here, but in a volunteer fire department town like Harvard, this helps the driver know who to wait for and how long they’ll take to get there,” said Deputy Devens Chief Kelly. This same type of monitor will be installed in the Harvard Police Station, and the information will also be available on each officer’s workstation.
Police Chief Ed Denmark explained the changes that residents will experience when Harvard transitions to the regional dispatch center. “There will be someone physically at the Harvard police station from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. After that, when residents enter the lobby, a call box will be available. Instead of talking to our dispatcher through the bulletproof glass the way you do now, you’ll talk to central dispatch.” There are also video and audio monitors in the Harvard police station lobby that transmit directly to the dispatch center. Monitors mounted on the wall of the dispatch center, in clear sight of all the dispatchers on duty, display the outside and inside each town’s police station. In addition to being visually connected to all of the police stations, dispatchers can actually lock and unlock the front doors of each town’s police station in case of an emergency.
Harvard dispatchers shifting to new assignments
Harvard dispatchers Pat Natoli and Trish Rouvel will remain full-time employees at the police station. Natoli will take on the job of Administrative Assistant for Chief Denmark, Fire Chief Rick Sicard and Public Works Director Richard Nota. Rouvel will be the general point of contact at the station, handling things like police reports, fire permits and firearms permits. During the first week of the transition, Harvard Police will maintain coverage at the station the entire week to make sure things go smoothly. When the week ends, coverage will be cut back.
Harvard Ambulance Squad Director Steve Beckman said that the squad has had training at the center to make sure that they understand the protocols, “like how we confirm that we have a crew.” Beckman added that even though dispatch is changing, services will not change. Billing policies will remain the same, and the contracts with the three Advance Life Support companies that Harvard uses are still in place.
Non-emergency calls also moving
Non-emergency calls to Harvard Police or Fire will still come to the stations will also go to the new regional center at all hours. Burn permits will not be handled by the regional center, but how they will be handled is still being worked out by Chief Sicard. Details will be released as soon as they are ready. “We do get calls from Lancaster requesting cooking fires,” said Dispatcher Goldsmith. We log them just in case.” Reverse 911 calls will be handled by the regional center. And 911 calls from a cell phone will, as always go first to the state police.
The center will have three dispatchers on duty for the first week that Harvard transitions in to get adjusted to the call volume. On Halloween night they’ll have four dispatchers, because all of the charter towns have trick-or-treating on that same night. In addition to planning for additional coverage during town events, employees at the dispatch center pay close attention to weather forecasts. A few weeks ago, when a hurricane was moving up the east coast, three dispatchers were on duty “just in case”, said Kinnas. The center also has a dispatcher paging system in the event of an unforeseen emergency.
A trend among small towns
Regional dispatch for small towns is a growing trend. According to Dispatch Supervisor Kinnas, “When times are tough, rather than lay off policemen or firemen, towns can save money by sharing a regionalized dispatch system.” At the same time, it allows towns to take advantage of upgraded dispatch equipment, more and better-trained dispatchers, and easier communications with other towns. “It seems like a big change, but realistically, we envision this to be anti-climactic,” said Chief Denmark. He added, “It’s an ongoing process. If people have concerns or suggestions, I would encourage them to reach out to us.”
