Oswego County Emegency Communications Department

"It is the mission of the County of Oswego 911 Emergency Communications Center to answer the emergency telephone lines, and to dispatch the closest available resource, in the most efficient manner."

 

 

The 911 Emergency Communications Center is the exclusive public safety answering point for our 46+ emergency services user agencies. Each call for assistance for these agencies, regardless of the number dialed (911, 7-digit, wireless 911, text 911, etc.) is routed to the E 911 Emergency Communications Center.

Having all incidents for these agencies processed through one centralized emergency communications center ensures a highly efficient dispatch process.
If a citizen calls one of our non-emergency lines, the caller's telephone number is displayed on the computer at a call-taking position. If it is a 911 call, the telephone company database provides the caller's telephone number, name and location information.

The telecommunicator/call taker will inquire about the reason for the call. If a dispatch is required, the incident will be entered into our Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) System. The CAD automatically selects the appropriate emergency services user agency(s) based on the incident type and incident location. There are currently 168 different incident type codes, ranging from assault to structure fire in our system. The CAD will incorporate all of the information as well as data added by the public safety telecommunicator/call taker and route the incident to the appropriate dispatch positions (police, EMS, fire).

Upon receipt of the incident, the public safety telecommunicator/dispatcher reviews the information provided and determines available units assigned to the area. The priority of pending (waiting) incidents is pre-determined by the user agency committees that represent each discipline (police, fire, EMS). "Emergency" incidents are dispatched based on the nearest available unit within the jurisdiction.

Wireless 911 telephone calls are processed similarly. However, with wireless calls the public safety telecommunicator will receive general location information such as the latitude and longitude indicating the caller's location. This data is then converted by our computer systems into a location on electronic mapping. The electronic mapping also features enhanced aerial imaging known as Pictometry.

Once an incident has been dispatched, our public safety telecommunicator/dispatchers maintain contact with each unit, noting their current status and managing available resources. Public safety telecommunicator/dispatchers routinely perform resource networking and logistics coordination. Our public safety telecommunicator/dispatchers must constantly respond to changing conditions. Their role is further complicated by their responsibility to constantly input data into the CAD System, fulfilling vehicle registration and driver's license data requests, as well as locating additional units to respond to pending incidents, maintaining the status of critical incidents, and fielding inquiries and requests for information, etc. from our user agencies.

The Emergency Communications Center shift supervisors are responsible for managing all operations in the ECC during their tour of duty. They constantly monitor all aspects of the operation including quality control, monitoring active incidents, answering questions from our customers and staff, providing direction, notifying law enforcement user agency shift commanders of pending incidents, mitigating issues, covering for staff breaks and backfilling staff to compensate for sick call-ins. The shift supervisor processes inquiries from the staff of our 48+ user agencies and the news media. Our shift supervisors also fulfill our agencies role as the Oswego County warning point for the prompt notification siren system and emergency operations associated with the nuclear power plants located at Nine Mile Point.

The authorized staffing of the ECC varies, with maximum staffing scheduled during those periods that traditionally reflect the highest demand for service.