Look who made the Official Magazine of APCO!

Look who made the June issue of APCO's Public Safety Communications magazine!  I think they should have been on the cover myself.  Does this mean they are in charge of Happy Hour?

911 Coordinating Council is now on Facebook

From Michele Abbott, Kansas 911 Coordinating Council -

The KS 911 Coordinating Council has created a Facebook page!     https://www.facebook.com/#!/KS911CoordinatingCouncil  

The KS 911 Coordinating Council was created by the Kansas 911 Act (K.S.A. 12-5362 et seq) and is tasked with monitoring the delivery of 911 services, developing strategies for future enhancements to the 911 system and distributing available grant funds. 

Mission

The 911 Coordinating Council's mission is to enhance public safety in Kansas through reliable access 59 911 and foster a voluntary, unified approach to enable development, policy leadership, operational review, technological advancement, education and training to enable "Next Generation E911" systems and services.

Description

The Coordinating Council is tasked with the following duties by the Kansas 911 Act:
(1) Shall select the LCPA upon advice and consent of the legislative coordinating council; Shall adopt rules and regulations for the terms of the contract with the LCPA; shall determine the compensation of the LCPA who will provide    staffing to council after 1-1-12; oversight of LCPA performance.
(2) Authorized to ...adopt rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of the act;
(3) Monitor the delivery of 911 services;
(4) Develop statewide 911 planning and strategies for future enhancements to the 911 system;
(5) Develop criteria for expenditure of 911 grant funds and distribute available grant funds to PSAPs;
(6) Make an annual report to senate and house committees;
(7) Approve expenses incurred in carrying out business of the council;
(8) Determine if a PSAP has used 911 fees for unauthorized uses.

 

 

WEBSITE:  http://www.kansascounties.org/index.aspx?NID=245

Historical photos published

Some historical photos from Kansas APCO's past have been published on the Kansas APCO website under the "About KSAPCO" page.  Can you identify any of the people in the photos?  If so, let us know.  Go to http://ksapco.org/Historical_Photos.php.

Conference photos published

Photos of the Spring 13 Conference have been posted.  They can be found by clicking on the "Photos" tab at www.ksapco.org, or by surfing directly to the Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ksapco/.  Thanks to Brad Gilges and Sandy Dvorak for photographing the event.

Sedgwick County hosts 2013 Spring Conference

Thanks to the Sedgwick County Emergency Communications team for hosting the 2013 Spring Conference, and in particular, to Elora Randleas who organized much of the event.  Shown in the photo is Elora (left) and Kansas APCO President Kim Pennington.

2012 Kansas Telecommunicators of the Year

This year, the TCOY Award was a "Team Award".  The winner was

Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center

(Because EVERY member of their department was nominated, it was impossible to pick one person to be more deserving than the others. As the TCOY chair, I decided we should recognize them all. We are now in the process of reviewing our award designations to add this category as a permanent option).

Shawnee County currently has 35 full-time employees which are comprised of one floor supervisor, five shift supervisors, five Communication Specialists II, 24 Communications Specialist I (four of which are trainees), and four intermittent employees. In 2012, they answered approximately 500,000 911 and administrative phone lines and dispatched more than 213,000 incidents.

The team’s time on the job range from 27 years to two months. Two employees have previous experience in emergency service communications, but most started their careers at Shawnee County. As is the case with many dispatch centers, Shawnee County Emergency Communications is constantly in the hiring and training process. For the latter part of 2012, their staffing levels were less than optimal and their employees had to cover more hours in overtime than most would prefer. In spite of that, they continued to fulfill the requirements of their job the very best they could. Without exception, they know emergency services communications is important work; they take that work seriously, and they care deeply about the safety of the law enforcement officers, firefighters, and citizens of Shawnee County. They attempt to instill that resolve and attitude of responsibility into every trainee hired.

 On December 16, 2012 at 18:09 hours, Lacey Mulford dispatched two Topeka Police Department officers to a suspicious vehicle call. An officer at the scene reported “shots” fired at 18:13 hours and “officers down” within a few seconds. As we all now know, the officers were killed during this incident. Despite only being with the department for 18 months, Lacey sounded calm and clear throughout the incident while it was on her frequency.  She followed all simulcasting and toning guidelines in announcing officers down and officers in danger, and clearly reported updates as they were received. She efficiently and in a detailed manner added responding officers to the CAD call and repeated information transmitted from the field, including quickly-changing suspect locations and reports from area citizens that might have been related to the shooting.

 The primary call was moved to an alternate frequency at 18:19 hours, at which time, Kim Ragan, who was working overtime, took over the call and the remained on that frequency throughout the night.  The suspect’s actual location was determined by a call from the resident just after midnight on December 17. Kim continued to monitor the frequency assigned to the “standoff” until the suspect was secured at 06:10 hours. Kim is an excellent, experienced dispatcher who closely tracked officers at the initial crime scene, coordinated with other dispatchers tracking officers staged at possible locations for the suspect, responded to requests from the field, and handled the call of the confirmed suspect location. It was an ongoing, complicated situation, and Kim did a stellar job handling the primary call frequency for almost 12 hours.

 The Shawnee County supervisor on duty during the homicides, Sara Roberts, reported outstanding work by everyone in dispatch.  In addition to Kim handling the main call on an alternate frequency, Melanie Mills-Bergers was on a frequency with a search at another location, and Sara was on a frequency with a search and possible standoff at yet a different location.  She reported that, even with three extra frequencies being monitored, everyone still managed to keep up with the almost overwhelming number of phone calls that always occur after high priority calls. 

Sara’s summary indicated that members of Communications were a “step ahead” at all times and performed tasks before they were requested.  Amber Gold stayed to assist after her scheduled overtime ended; Michelle Barnes, remained at work for 18 hours until after midnight and then returned at 06:30 hours the next morning; Trista Roberts and Liz Scott showed up without being called to help, a dispatcher brought in food for everyone, others called to volunteer to come in if needed. Sara mentioned that one of their intermittent employees, Loren Lossman, was a huge help in ways too numerous to mention.

 Lt. John Ostenson arrived at dispatch shortly after the shooting and stayed several hours.  Captain Lance Royer was in dispatch from about 18:30 hours on Sunday to about 00:30 hours Monday morning. They “ran interference” for communications employees so that they could do their jobs with fewer interruptions. The Captain and Lieutenant relayed information among coworkers, answered questions from officials, and assisted wherever they could. Captain Royer said that, both from personal observation and information he received from others after he left dispatch, that all dispatchers on duty continued to rise to the occasion all night long, as they always do, and all were as helpful as possible in any way they could be. From the initial event throughout the night, each dispatcher jumped to assist whenever requests came from the field, researching tags and information received, calling chaplains, notifying other agencies, handling many condolence calls from citizens and others, passing on intelligence to investigators, in addition to “taking care of business” at their assigned positions.  Some Shawnee County employees arrived to help that were off duty.  All of these dispatchers performed their duties professionally in spite of most of them personally knowing the officers who were killed and themselves being in the midst of shock and grief.  All Communications personnel continued in their effort to intricately record every call detail throughout the following week, when investigations continued and crime scenes were held and guarded.

The officers’ funerals were planned for Saturday, December 22, 2012 at 10:00 and 14:00 hours at a large arena that holds several thousand people. Outside agencies offered to provide call coverage for sheriff deputies, police officers, and communications personnel.  Communications was unable to take advantage of those offers because of computer-aided dispatch and other computer-related concerns--getting logged on to CAD and KCJIS, knowing the area geography, and many other factors.  Once again, Shawnee County Emergency Communications personnel stepped up to provide coverage and still allow those who wanted to attend one or both funerals to do so.  Lt. Ostenson and Melanie Mills-Bergers worked for three days prior to the funerals to coordinate hours of work and ensure that communications had adequate personnel on duty throughout the day. Lt. Ostenson arrived early the day of the funerals and stayed late into the night to assist in communications and inventory radios returned by outside agencies.

Dawn Frey and Jamie Ratzloff accepted the challenge of broadcasting the “Last Call”, one for each officer.  They handled the difficult responsibility with professionalism. The department heard numerous accolades from officers and others at the services in appreciation of the professional, yet compassionate, manner in which they performed that revered tradition. 

Not only did the Shawnee County Emergency Communications personnel pull together to support each other, both professionally and emotionally, a few have initiated or joined fundraising efforts for the fallen officers’ families.  Michelle Barnes has raised more than $10,000.00 for their fund from memorial t-shirt sales. Trista Roberts and Angelica Huber raised more than $1,000.00 in memorial vehicle decal sales.  Others have helped publicize fundraising efforts by the Topeka Police Department and Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department.

Sara Roberts, Justin Roberts, David Dostaler, and Trista Roberts initiated a “paying it forward” effort. Shawnee County Communications received a “care package” from a communications center in St. John the Baptist Parish, LA., meant to provide some cheer. It was much appreciated, and Roberts replenished the contents and has sent it to Riverside, California in response to their two officers being killed. They also started a state initiative to do likewise in the State of Kansas. They sent a “care package” to Sedgwick County 911 after one of their deputies was shot in the line of duty.  It was much appreciated by the dispatchers and they have it ready to pay it forward should another agency face a crisis.  Roberts, Roberts, and Dostaler sent condolence cards to other communications centers that lost officers shortly after the Topeka officer’s deaths.  Roberts has made it her personal mission to continue sending sympathy cards to outside agencies as needed.

Citing the contributions made by every member of Communications during the tragedy on December 16, in the aftermath, and in the following week through the funeral services would require many hours to recount. Each and every employee of the Shawnee County Emergency Communications should rightly be honored for their teamwork and their efforts.  Every member acted in dedicated manner in spite of their shock and grief, assisting in any way they could, and were determinedly dedicated to our profession of emergency services communications.

2012 Telecommunicator of the Year - 1st Runner Up

Bruce Fox of the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office.  Shawnee County has 30 full time employees, six trainees, and three part-time employees and dispatches ten agencies in Shawnee County and other municipalities in the area.  During 2012, they averaged 500,000 911 and administrative phone calls and dispatched more than 213,000 incidents.

Bruce has been with Shawnee County for two years. Prior to that, he has more than 13 years’ experience as a dispatcher at Riley County, Arizona State University, Emporia, and Jackson County. Of those, 7 were spent as a Lead Dispatcher/Supervisor at Riley County. Even though he only been with the county for a year, he was deemed to be an experienced trainer and was promoted to his current position in March of 2012.

He is described as a knowledgeable trainer who instills his good work ethic and abilities in those he trains. It is also noted numerous times that he is punctual every day and rarely uses sick leave. His reliability and is a true bonus to his co-workers.

An email was sent to Bruce’s shift members commending them on their teamwork during an exceptionally busy day which included: a possible plane crash, a barricaded subject, a response team callout, a suicidal jumper, and an armed robbery in addition to routine calls.  He was a vital part of the team that day.

On February 4, 2012, Bruce answered a 911 call from a female who state that she had a fire in her home. The 16-year old caller, whom they later discovered was of diminished mental capacity, was already coughing as she attempted to answer questions. The caller also had a five-year old in the residence with her.

Two minutes into the call, Bruce had verified the address and had begun gathering information about the exact whereabouts of the children inside the residence. The caller advised that she was in a room at the back of the house and that the fire was blocking the front door. The caller’s coughing was becoming more frequent, so Bruce encouraged the caller to break out a window. The caller advised him that she had nothing with which to break the window.

Four minutes into the call, he continued to urge the caller to locate and break a window. The caller stated, “I can’t, the smoke is too heavy. It is covering everything”. Bruce continued to gather information and ascertained that the caller was in a two-story house and was on the main level of the residence in a back bedroom. The young caller kept stating, “I’m in the room on the right side of the house,” and was unable to differentiate directions. He reassured the caller that help was on the way and encourage her and the young boy to stay close to the floor. He also continued to prompt her to feel her way along the wall to find a window.

The caller began to cough more heavily and told Bruce, “I can’t breathe. How much longer?” He remained unfailingly calm while on the phone with her and continued to comfort and instruct the caller. Six minutes into the call, the caller began to plead, “It’s too dark to see anything”.  He reiterated that the caller should keep down, cover her mouth, and feel her way along the wall.

Units arrived on scene eight minutes into the call. At this point, Bruce instructed the caller and younger child to yell for help so they could find them. Through strained coughs, the caller intermittently yelled for help. Two minutes later, he attempted to get a response from the caller but did not hear one. One minute later, the sound of breaking glass could be heard. Within two minutes of arrival, personnel onscene reported that the two children were out of the residence. Their prompt rescue was largely due to information Bruce gleaned from the children and the instructions he gave them.

 Throughout this nine-minute call, Bruce displayed compassion, professionalism, and excellence in his performance. He provided valuable instruction to the children and to emergency responders that helped keep the two trapped children alive. A responding officers emphasized that the fate of the children would have been grave if not fatal without the guidance and instruction that Bruce provided.

 

2012 Telecommunicator of the Year - 2nd Runner Up

Cindy Staton of the Miami County Sheriff’s Office.   Cindy has been with the Miami County Sheriff’s Office for 12 years. Prior to that, she worked for Pittsburg State University dispatch and the Linn County Sheriff’s Office; totaling 23 years of experience. Miami County averages 1,000 911 calls per month and dispatches multiple police and fire agencies.

 Cindy’s co-workers describe her as “amazing to work with”. She is eager to help out in any way and shares her knowledge. She goes to work early and stays late if needed and is willing to help cover shifts when needed. She goes above and beyond on a regular basis and does an amazing job throughout the year.

 The deputies know that Cindy is passionate about officer safety and respect her skills to help keep them safe. Citizens usually end up thanking her at the end of their call because she has made them feel that our dispatchers genuinely care and do the best to their ability to get them the assistance they need.

 In September of 2012, Cindy received a 911 call from a hysterical female advising that her brother had a gun to his head and was suicidal. The caller was very difficult to understand when giving the address. Cindy was very calm with her and was finally able to get the address from her. Eventually, the mother got on the phone and in speaking with her; Cindy discovered the male subject with the gun was a deputy with her agency.

 She was able to keep the mother calm and advise responding units of the information. This was a very volatile situation as the subject was a law enforcement officer and was aware of what actions the responding units would take. There was a standoff with the subject before he was taken into custody.

During this call, Cindy displayed all aspects of what a great telecommunicator should have. She was able to take control of the phone call, calm, reassure, and make the caller feel more comfortable as the call went on. She was also able to remain calm on the radio while keeping the deputies updated with all the pertinent information. This call was not only emotional for the family involved but for Cindy and the responding units as it involved a co-worker.