Sebastian County briefed by 911-system reviewer
FORT SMITH — An outside organization is reviewing the 911 system in Sebastian County, with consolidation being a possible outcome.
The Sebastian County 911 Board heard a presentation from Stephen J. Wisely, senior business development coordinator for the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials on Tuesday. Wisely said the organization had been hired to conduct a “pre-consolidation review.” On Wednesday, he visited three communications centers. He will meet with the board again today at 8:30 a.m.
“I’m here to get a flavor of the workflow, get a sense of how the place runs, and then on Thursday morning, we will be back together and we’ll talk about general observations that I had,” he said.
The next step after the discussion today, Wisely said, would be up to the board to determine. The board approved the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials’ study of the county’s public-service answering points during its meeting Dec. 4, according to minutes from that meeting. (Public-service answering points are, essentially, call centers for individual emergency service units such as
police, fire or ambulance.)
Last year, the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 660 of 2019, establishing the Public Safety Act of 2019, amending the Arkansas Public Safety Communications Act of 1985 and developing a next generation 911 system, according to the Legislature website. Sebastian County Judge David Hudson said this sets out goals on reducing the number of public-service answering points across the state.
“That was landmark legislation that has created a sense of urgency to review our 911 system statewide, how many public service answering points there are, how efficient they are all operating, and if anything could be done to reduce the number and to improve the cost effectiveness while improving service delivery,” Hudson said.
The three public-service answering points in Sebastian County include two primary answering centers: the Fort Smith Police Department and the Sebastian County sheriff’s office, Hudson said.
A 911 call from within the city of Fort Smith goes to the police department while those made from anywhere else go to the sheriff’s office. Ambulance calls are transferred from either of these two centers to the third answering point, Fort Smith EMS.
Hudson said after Wisely’s first review of these three sites, as well as the Sebastian County Emergency Operations Center in Fort Smith, the board will determine whether to go to the next step, which would be a more detailed study.
Wisely said the information provided by the pre-consolidation review is designed to help the 911 board during the discussion and decision process before potential consolidation.
“This just helps you decide what resources you’d want and what you’d need to move forward,” Wisely said.
Work for the review, Wisely said, includes interviews and discussions with relevant stakeholders, observing operations of existing facilities that may be involved in the consolidation, and reviewing relevant documents and information related to current operations, governance structure and funding.
Wisely also discussed benefits and challenges that come with consolidation, as well as different consolidation models and other matters for the board to take into consideration.