County considers centralized 911 call center

WOOD RIVER - Discussions again are under way to centralize a 911 call center in Madison County.

The county's 911 director, William Gamblin, presented members of the Emergency Telephone System Board with a report Wednesday about the concept of a central call distribution center. The report gives a brief history of the county's decision on consolidation and three methods on how the plan could be implemented.

"I've looked at what brought us to this point in time and determined there are three ways it could be handled," Gamblin said.

The idea is that call takers could receive all 911 calls and then ship them to one of the county's 16 public safety answering points. Call takers could be trained in emergency dispatch, as well, which would allow PSAPs to cut costs.

The thought with a central distribution center is that PSAPs would not be required to train as many personnel in dispatch and would save on overtime costs.

A central call center also could be equipped with 911 telephone equipment, computer-aided dispatch, mapping equipment and radios, and would be responsible for calls from start to finish.

Gamblin said there are many factors to consider; however, the largest is the cost of personnel.

"We have to look at where staff is now and what we would need," he said.

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