Retreat:

Unified emergency plan

proves difficult
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

Despite a combined effort, local government officials could not consolidate an agreement on a consolidated emergency dispatch system.

Officials and staff from Watauga County, Boone, Blowing Rock, Seven Devils and Appalachian State University discussed this matter and others at an intergovernmental retreat held Monday, April 28, at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock.

Watauga County manager Rocky Nelson introduced the subject by saying the state requires each county to have an EMS (emergency medical service) advisory board to offer advice and supervision on such matters. The county appointed such a committee nearly 10 years ago, he said.

The advisory board has recommended that emergency services consolidate their dispatch systems. Currently, there are three dispatch operations in Watauga County – one for Boone, one for the county, and one for Blowing Rock.

Nelson said the issue has been examined every couple of years for the last nine years, and the advisory board sent letters to member governments, to which it received limited response and participation.

“The committee still feels it’s a good idea from the issue of controlling incidents that have multiple victims or emergency situations,” Nelson said, adding that miscommunication can cost precious minutes, which can cost lives.

He said the EMS board is also suggesting a one-button transfer system. Were Watauga dispatch to receive a call concerning Blowing Rock, the dispatcher could transfer the call to Blowing Rock emergency services with one touch of a button.

“I guess the goal of the community is number one, to do it, and if there’s not interest to do it, we need to know that, as well, so we can move on to other issues that we can address,” Nelson said, noting that Sheriff Len Hagaman supports the move, as do the county commissioners.

Boone Police chief Bill Post said that consolidated dispatch for EMS and fire protection is agreeable, but as far as policing is concerned, “I don’t know if it’s in their purview to decide what’s in the best interest for Boone citizens and police resources.”

Recalling his service in Hickory, Post said dispatch there used one-button transfer, which worked well. As it is, EMS and fire calls account for 10 percent of calls to Boone dispatch, while 90 percent of those calls are police-related.

Boone Fire chief Reggie Hassler said the matter has been discussed in the N.C. State Firemen’s Association, and the average number of dispatches from Boone and the county amount to around 800 and 200, respectively.

Kent Graham, Blowing Rock emergency services director and president of the firemen’s association, said he’d like to see fair representation in the management of a central dispatch.

“The complaints that have come have been that responders don’t know who they’re talking to, if you have more than one dispatch agency,” Graham said.

He said a consolidated dispatch would work best for fire and EMS, though he wouldn’t speak for law enforcement. “But I know that from having walk-ins and from having dispatchers that have intimate knowledge of your particular district, that makes a difference in the level of service we provide,” he said.

Lack of such knowledge has proven troublesome in the past, Graham said.

If a Blowing Rock responder is dispatched to a county area and is not familiar with a certain road, he or she must request directions from county dispatch. In turn, those directions must be transposed, because they’re written for someone heading from Boone.

Jim Deal, chairman of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners, as well as the Appalachian State University Board of Trustees, said that from an oversight perspective, if fire and EMS would be run from a consolidated dispatch, the county would like feedback from Boone and Blowing Rock.

If the current system’s not working, “then we need to make it work,” Deal said. He asked if there were enough problems with the system that would warrant a centralized dispatch solely for fire and EMS.

“If we mess with it, we might break it,” Blowing Rock Town Council member Tommy Klutz said, noting that he’s personally seen the system in action.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be part of a county system, but we’ve got it good. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The group decided to let each entity’s board further discuss the matter on their own to raise it again at the next intergovernmental retreat, which will tentatively be held in the next quarter.