County officials have entered into an agreement with Harrison Township Volunteer Fire Company to provide their fire apparatus with access to the county’s public safety systems.
The Bartholomew County commissioners entered into a memorandum of understanding between the county’s IT department and Harrison Township Volunteer Fire Company, which will give their first responders access to additional information that could prove crucial when responding to an emergency.
Chief Jim Olmstead said the partnership agreement will give firefighters access notes dispatchers at the 911 center receive, “some of which can be very important to us.”
Previously, firefighters would receive truncated messages when called to an incident, and this agreement will provide more information that could help both firefighters and those they are going to help.
When responding to a fire, there may be extra information that would be helpful to know, such as if the home firefighters are responding to has a dog or a deaf child is living there.
“It could also be specifics around that particular call and what the dispatcher got for information from the 911 caller,” Olmstead said.
If someone had fallen off their roof, for example, previously the volunteer fire department would get information that someone was injured in a fall, but nothing beyond that. With access to the county’s public safety systems, they would get additional information, including that person had fallen 10 feet on to a concrete floor.
“It’s critical information that would have helped our responders at that time with their assessment as they’re trying to get to the scene,” Olmstead said. “The more information we have, the sooner we get it there, it help us us size up and assess the situation sooner and take actions to alleviate that incident.”
Bartholomew County 911 Center Director Todd Noblitt decides what level of access the department will receive. Information related to law enforcement, as an example, would be a type of information that may be restricted, given that it wouldn’t impact the safety of firefighters or EMTs coming to the scene, Olmstead said.
The fire chief also added that access to the public safety systems could serve as a backup for their communications system in a scenario where their digital radios goes down.
Commissioner Carl Lienhoop, R-District 2, said it’s expected that “at least a couple of the volunteer fire departments” in the county will be entering into similar agreements.
Access to the system will cost Harrison Township $4,251 in annual license fees and labor, plus a one-time equipment and set up expense of $7,600.
