They spoke about services provided, at no charge
Orange County Emergency Services Commissioner Brendan Casey, Deputy Commissioner for 911 Allen Wierzbicki and 911 Director of Operations Greg Schmid were at Monday’s meeting of the Highlands Town Board to explain the services offered by Orange County’s 911 program.
They were invited to the meeting by County Legislator Laurie Tautel, simply as a way to provide information to the community about what 911 does, as the Village of Highland Falls faces a vote on dissolution. Should dissolution happen, it’s expected the Highland Falls Police Department would cease to exist, and all policing in the community, as well as its dispatching, would become a function of the Town of Highlands Police Department.
Right now, the Highland Falls Police are dispatched by local dispatchers, located at the police station, 301 Main St. Every other emergency service in the town is dispatched by Orange County’s 911.
Casey said several times at the meeting that the county “does not have a dog in the fight” when it comes to deciding which service is used by the village, whether dissolution happens or not. He also took a minute to praise the “great job” the HFPD dispatch does, and said the county 911 can help with training for local dispatchers. He agreed with some in the audience that local dispatchers have “local knowledge” that county dispatchers do not have.
But, he and Wierzbicki made the case for using the county’s service, which would come at no cost to taxpayers.
“It is becoming more and more difficult for local agencies to keep up with technology,” Casey said. “These costs are not going away, and it’s becoming incumbent on local officials to look at how they will handle the expense of the new technology.”
For instance: they spoke about new programs which help first responders find 911 callers.
“It’s the same technology designed by Uber, or used by pizza delivery companies,” Wierzbicki said, saying that using data pulled from a cell phone during a 911 call, in conjunction with traditional triangulation off cell towers, they can quickly locate callers who may not be able to relay their exact location.
Casey also noted that 911 also uses texting services, to take calls from those who might not want others to know they are making a 911 call, or for the hearing impaired. As well, they use a language service to help address the needs of callers who don’t speak English.
Wierzbicki addressed a common ‘complaint’ that people make about 911 calls — the many questions they are asked by dispatchers. Those questions, he said, help them decide who to dispatch. In fact, the first three, he said, determine if an ambulance will be sent, as, he said, time is of the essence in many medical calls.
(More about those questions that are asked can be found at: www.orangecountygov.com/318/Emergency-Communications)
The three answered questions about the fact that 911 calls from cell phones in the Town of Highlands/West Point/Cornwall area often first are answered in Putnam County; there were some 800 of those calls from Putnam last year, Casey said.
Wierzbicki explained that it’s just a matter of a touch of a button for Putnam dispatchers to transfer calls to Orange dispatchers, “and they stay on the line with you”, he said. He explained that the county’s 911 dispatchers also often have to transfer out calls to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other counties.
Of note as well from the presentation is that Casey said the county is in talks with West Point to take over all emergency dispatching on post; part of a nationwide government program to tap into already-existing local services.
It was also mentioned that some communities, like Cornwall, use the 911 system on a part-time basis, for certain shifts only.
The Town Board meeting is available to watch via a link at www.highlands-ny.gov.
