SUMMERS COUNTY W.Va. (Hinton News) – They are the voices in the dark, the calm in the storm, the unseen heroes; they are 911 dispatchers. If you have ever experienced an emergency that required contacting emergency services, you have spoken to one of the individuals whose job it is to see that you get the help you need. At the Summers County 911 Center, upgrades and changes have abounded recently. New Office of Emergency Management/911 Director Loyd Lowry recently spoke about the changes and how they impact the dispatchers, emergency responders and the community.
One of the recent changes is the implementation of Active 911. According to Lowry, it is a third-party app that has been integrated into the 911 Center’s CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system. Anytime a call comes in for an emergency, such as a fire, car wreck, etc., Active 911 sends a notification to the phones of members of the required agency. It provides each member with GPS directions to the scene and lists the type of incident and other vital information so responding members can plan accordingly. Additionally, it allows the members to know where each is while on scene. Lowry said, “We can see all GPS where these people are at any given time.”
Utilizing Active 911 has multiple benefits for responders as well as dispatchers. Among the differences to the traditional way of dispatching, is that it does not require the dispatchers to actively be on the radio paging departments and giving information. It makes the workflow quicker to get responders where they need to be. It also provides a way for volunteer firefighters to get notified of calls when they are out of radio range or do not have a radio with them.
Another change involves the radio system used in the county. Lowry noted that they have changed radio vendors. The previous vendor was not able to meet the expectations needed for the type of service, so they have now switched to MCA Mobile Communications America.
Lowry said, “The new company has come in and we’ve done a full inspection of our radio equipment, our tower sites and our transmitters. And they’re coming back into the center here shortly to follow up with us and give us the findings and do what we need to do, show us what we need to do to get the radio system to a point where it’s stable, reliable and effective for this county.”
Additionally, Lowry noted that they are working to implement ancillary products to help local first responders. Among those products is Tango Tango, a program that allows cell phones to essentially become radios on the county’s network. Lowry said, “This is going to be a crucial thing for us going forward with the conversion of our radio system plus the addition of the P25 Siren network coming online in late fall. Radios are very expensive for that system and Tango Tango kind of bridges that gap to where we can use that system with our cell phones that we already own.”
Lowry also stated that the 911 Center is working on getting more certifications and accreditations. Among the list is an accreditation that will allow them to send out emergency messages, weather alerts, Amber Alerts and other similar messages through the National Emergency Alert Network. He went on to say that they are getting people trained and ready to have that up and running in the next couple of months.
Accessibility is paramount to Summers County 911, which is why they are working to implement a program that will allow hard-of-hearing, deaf, nonverbal and non-native English-speaking individuals to talk to a 911 dispatcher through texting. According to Lowry, there are only 19 counties in the state that offer this accessible program, and he is striving to make Summers County the 20th.
The program would allow someone to directly text 911. If the person is a non-native English speaker, they can type in their language, and it will translate it to English when it gets to the dispatcher. Likewise, the dispatcher can respond in English, and the message will be translated to the person’s native language.
Lowry, who was born and raised in Summers County, currently lives in Hilldale. He is married with two children, a dog and three cats. Before becoming the OEM/911 Director, he worked for Greenbrier Valley Hospital (now part of CAMC) for almost 14 years, specializing in IT. Before that, he worked in management in the retail sector. He has been a first responder with two area fire departments for more than four years. He said, “I think I’ve brought a lot of experience and knowledge to the position in regards to technology and also for leadership skills.”
The Summers County 911 Center is staffed 24 hours per day, seven days per week. All of the employees are certified to the state’s requirements. Additionally, the employees do extensive training for various FEMA classes relative to the job. Lowry stated that most employees have at least three years of experience on the job. He also said, “We’re always available, and we will do everything that we can to make sure that we are dispatching emergency services effectively and that we’re meeting the needs of the citizens of Summers County.”
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