Jefferson County 911 Dispatch and some of the emergency response agencies it serves are in the process of switching to a new dispatching system purported to quicken responses to emergencies.
The agency bought the new Phoenix G2 ATX station alerting system from U.S. Digital-Designs earlier in the year in preparation for at least some of the agencies Jefferson County 911 serves to buy the new system, said Travis Williams, 911 Dispatch chief.
He said 911 Dispatch paid $58,000 for the equipment it needs to operate the Phoenix G2 system.
“There will also be a maintenance fee on the system of about $6,000 a year,” he added.
Williams noted that Jefferson County 911, which provides dispatching for most of the county emergency response agencies, will continue to dispatch using its existing system.
“This is something we’ve been working on for about four or five months,” he said. “G2 is IP –internet protocol – band paging. Basically, the way we dispatch now has a VHF two-tone system. The IP system will activate faster and more reliably.
“We’re still going to do the VHF system. But, agencies that want to go to IP will be able to do so, because we’ve purchased the equipment on our end.”
Williams said that while 911 Dispatch has installed the equipment it needs to operate the IP system, it will not be ready to link to the individual agencies that also have purchased it for a while.
“We’re still testing it,” he said. “We’re looking to go online with it in September. We’re looking forward to kicking it off. It’s going to provide for better dispatch services to these agencies.”
Thus far, only three emergency response agencies that 911 Dispatch serves have bought the Phoenix G2 system, Williams said.
“Hillsboro Fire and North Jefferson County Ambulance have installed it, but we’re still testing it on our side,” Williams said. “We hope to start using it (with them) in September.”
Hillsboro Fire bought the system for one of its two stations, while North Jefferson bought it for both of its stations. The Rock Community Fire Protection District board agreed on July 11 to buy the system for its House 4 in the Arnold area. The district has five houses.
The Jefferson County agencies that have bought the system said they’re impressed with it.
North Jefferson County Chief Jamie Guinn said his ambulance district only recently installed Phoenix 2 in both of its houses at a total cost of $54,000.
“It decreased dispatch time by 30 to 40 seconds,” Guinn said. “At times, it will be up to a minute faster. It’s also a cardiac-kind system. It comes on with a soft light and a soft voice.
“They just finished installation of the whole system in both our stations at the end of June. All of St. Louis County is switching over to this.”
Hillsboro Fire paid about $49,000 to put the system in at its House 1. Its other house remains on the VHF system, Chief Brian Gaudet said.
“This system has noticeably faster dispatch time, which results in faster response time,” Gaudet said. “The gentler alerts wake the firefighters up easier in the night. It could reduce cardiac stress.”
He said Hillsboro got its Phoenix G2 system about two months ago.
Rock Community has agreed to pay $41,551.49 to have the system installed in House 4.
Rock Fire Chief Kevin Wingbermuehle said that in addition to the system’s quicker response time and gentler alerts, the system’s computer-generated voice gives clearer information about what the emergency is with “uniform annunciation” of the street name.
“This system is one of the most significant advancements in dispatch technology we have seen in 30 years,” Wingbermuehle said. “It will cut critical seconds and sometimes minutes off the dispatching process. Faster notification for firefighters improves the effectiveness and efficiency of our response, ultimately saving lives, reducing property damage and enhancing overall public safety in our community. We will get to you faster.”
Williams said he expects more agencies to purchase the Phoenix G2 system.
“I think the majority of full-time departments will go to it in the next five years,” he said.
911 Dispatch provides full dispatching or partial related services to 31 emergency response entities in Jefferson County.
“That’s 16 fire protection districts or departments, five ambulance districts, six police departments, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Animal Control, Jefferson County Emergency Management and the Jefferson County Hazmat Team,” Williams said. “We do not provide services for the police departments of Pevely and Festus. Crystal City and De Soto use our radio system, but use their own dispatchers.”
He noted that Festus and Pevely use the 911 Dispatch towers for their dispatching services.
-- Leader reporter Tony Krausz contributed information for this story.