Emergency Communications

Members of the Consolidated City and County 911 Communications Center provide law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical dispatch to an immense geographic area. By combining quality people with modern technology, the Flagstaff 911 Communications Center maintains a consistently high level of service. The Intergraph Public Safety Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system combines mapping and agency unit identification in a dispatching format that enhances public safety agency response types and times. This new generation of CAD also allows dispatchers to "see" via computer where police and fire units are in the field. Staff access state and national computerized databases for law enforcement purposes. The Center is a model for state-of-the-art technology and interagency cooperation, so we host numerous tours and site visits from local groups and outside agencies interested in our consolidation model and technological solutions.

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In 2021, the Communications Center hired nineteen and continued training fourteen Emergency Communications Specialists (ECS). Staff answered a total of 292,470 calls from the public. This included 75,973 calls that were received via 911 and 216,497 non-emergency incoming calls. Staff dispatched 75,446 calls for service to law enforcement and fire units.

Personnel were able to keep fire response time from receipt of call to dispatch at or under one minute, (0.24 seconds) a National Fire Protection Agency best practice. Additionally, the Center maintained a 12-month average patrol response time of 4.23, from receipt of call to arrival of the first unit on the scene of priority one calls, better than the national benchmark and in line with our goal of under five minutes. City and County staff continued to work with our on-site Geographic Information Systems (GIS) employees on regular updates of the CAD and Vela maps. These maps are utilized to assist communications personnel to direct public safety responders who respond to 911 and all other call activity as they travel to the location of an incident. Map enhancement is an ongoing priority to maintain maximum efficiency and accuracy of call responses.

On medical calls, while emergency services are physically responding, communications personnel perform Emergency Medical Dispatching (EMD). An emergency medical dispatcher is a certified telecommunicator, tasked with the gathering of information related to medical emergencies, and offering assistance and pre-arrival medical instructions by voice prior to the arrival of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The term Emergency Medical Dispatcher is also a certification level and a professional designation, certified through the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch. In 2021, 16,894 Emergency Medical calls were received by the Flagstaff 911 Communications Center and EMD was attempted or performed 81% of the time where EMD was possible. In 2021, all Emergency Communications Specialists completed monthly training from Police Legal Services, an online training tool used to strengthen the professional skills of Emergency Communication Specialists by reinforcing classroom training and supplementing agency-specific practices.

The hiring process was updated in 2014 using the CritiCall screening program. “CritiCall”, a pre-employment multitasking testing program assists in identifying candidates who have the multi-tasking skills to be outstanding team members in an emergency communications center.

Staff from each 911 Center in Coconino County, the Arizona State 911 Office, and City and County GIS groups met regularly in 2021 for information sharing, planning and problem-solving.

The Flagstaff Police Department in conjunction with the Flagstaff Fire Department, members of Coconino County, Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Flagstaff’s GIS teams, continue to work on a Route Based Dispatching project. This is a Global Positioning System (GPS) program within the CAD system that will recommend the closest fire apparatus and the safest route for the Flagstaff Fire Department to respond to fire and medical emergencies. The

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Communications Center is also responsible for the dispatching of fire and EMS incidents for Pinewood, Blue Ridge, Forest Lakes, Highlands, and Summit Fire Departments. The Flagstaff 9-1-1 Communications continues to process and respond to wireless 9-1-1 calls using Wireless 911 Phase II. The enhancement provides the latitude/longitude of either the wireless tower (Phase I) and/or the wireless caller’s approximate location (Phase II) depending on the service. Also, Phase II provides the telephone number of the caller. The program is maintained by the 911 Coordinator who works under the Flagstaff 911 Communications Manager and in conjunction with the Communications Managers from Grand Canyon, Page, and Williams Police Departments. In 2021, the 911 Communications Center received 63,380 wireless calls.

The Communications Center continues to utilize a program called RapidSoS. The program gives each dispatcher access to accurate and additional information from a smartphone when it calls 911. It provides accurate GPS information, medical alert information, and information from Uber. It can also show if a 911 caller is moving providing historical GPS data.

The State 911 Office is in the process of upgrading statewide Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to the next generation 911 (NG911) platform. Implementing NG911 Network services will enable our PSAP to migrate to NG9-1-1 ready call-handling systems and a full feature Emergency Services IP Network. This will open the door to future possibilities of text to 9-1-1, pictures, and video capabilities. The Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Page and Williams PSAP’s have moved forward with the upgrade and implemented Text to 911 in February 2021.

The radio system and logging recorder was upgraded in 2019 with new software and hardware. The upgade of the new 800 MHz P25 digital public safety and city operations radio system that occurred in 2019 continues to be very beneficial. The current four tower antenna array has built-in redundancy which makes it highly resistant to weather-related disruptions in service.

The radio system has dual band capability in the VHF spectrum so that public safety employees in Police and Fire Divisions can communicate directly with Sheriff’s Deputies as well as personnel from outlying Fire Departments. The 800 MHz system has assured secure and dependable emergency communications among all public safety personnel including Flagstaff and the surrounding vicinity. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office updated the Flagstaff and Sedona Districts to a simulcast “channel two” microwave/UHF/VHF radio system. The radio repeater at the Sedona Airport was changed to the simulcast channel two from channel one and has improved the radio communication between the Flagstaff 911 Communications Center and deputies working in the Flagstaff, Sedona, and Oak Creek Canyon vicinities.

The old analog radio repeaters at Fisher Point and Jacob’s Lake radio sites were changed to digital P25 compatible radio repeaters which improve radio communications in the Page and the Grand Canyon North Rim vicinities.

In 2021, the Communications Center completed a CAD upgrade. The project was started in late 2020 and was completed in September 2021.

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