It appears the Oxford Township Board is considering the possibility of switching dispatch service providers for fire and emergency medical calls.
Officials voted last week to invite representatives from the Oxford Village Police and Oakland County Sheriff dispatch centers to a June 16 meeting to make presentations regarding their respective services and costs.
For the last 10 years, the township has been contracting with village dispatch. The current two-year agreement with the village expires Dec. 31.
This year’s dispatch services will cost the township $60,181, which comes out of the fire department budgets. Last year, the township paid $58,428.
According to Undersheriff Mike McCabe, the county’s dispatch center can serve the township for $30,199 the first year and $31,109 the second year, based on the fire department’s call volume from the previous two years.
Those prices don’t include the additional $3,000 per year the township would pay for a phone line between the county dispatch center and fire department base station.
Oakland County currently provides fire/EMS dispatch services for 10 departments including Addison, Brandon, Independence and Commerce townships.
‘We deliver an outstanding service,? McCabe said. ‘And our record speaks for itself. We have 10 other fire departments that use us. They think we’re doing it the right way. I’ll let our customers speak to that.?
The board got a sneak preview of the estvillage’s presentation from Police Chief Mike Neymanowski and village Manager Joe Young, who attended the township meeting.
Although he understands the board is looking for ways to cut its budgets in light of declining property tax revenues, Neymanowski urged the township to work with the village to ‘come up with a good compromise? that keeps a dispatch system in the community ‘because it is vital.?
Financially, keeping the township as a client is vital to the village dispatch center. The contract amounts to approximately 20 percent of the police department’s communications budget.
Neymanowski asserted it’s been proven the village dispatch center has a faster response time for fire/EMS calls than the sheriff’s department. The chief indicated to this reporter that his dispatch center’s average response time is 1 minute, 27 seconds ? that’s from the time the call is answered to the time it’s dispatched.
‘When we talk about someone having a heart attack or your house burning, seconds and minutes do mean a lot,? the chief said.
Young agreed and noted that ‘every 19 seconds a fire doubles? in size.
‘We can prove and document that we do have the fastest response time,? he told the board.
But, according to McCabe, for the 10 fire departments that county dispatch currently serves, the average response time ? from when a call is answered to when it’s dispatched ? ranges from 45 seconds for Brandon to 1 minute, 21 seconds for Springfield.
‘I’m very comfortable saying that our times are just as good as theirs and that we both use the same computer-aided dispatch system,? the undersheriff said.
Young noted that unlike the sheriff’s dispatch center, which has separate people answering and dispatching calls, a single village dispatcher simultaneously takes and dispatches each and every call.
McCabe explained that county call-takers input information from each caller into the computer system and once it’s verified, ‘the call immediately goes on the computer screen to the fire dispatcher.?
‘It’s no different than how they do it with one dispatcher,? the undersheriff said. ‘All that information is on the screen for the fire dispatcher, so there’s no delay. I do know that for a fact.?
Because the county dispatch center is staffed by anywhere from 13 to 16 people during a shift, McCabe noted, ‘we can talk to multiple people at multiple times.?
County dispatch has a total of 47 personnel.
‘We get this rap that we’re too big. We’re not too big,? McCabe said. ‘We have enough staff that we can service everybody. We can actually take on more customers. We’re nowhere near capacity right now.?
The village center is staffed by three full-time dispatchers and six part-timers. Normally, one dispatcher works per shift, unless there’s a situation, like a severe storm, when call volumes typically increase, then a second dispatcher is called into work.
Village Dispatcher Tony Van Houten said since all of the dispatchers live locally, he can have backup at the center in about five minutes when needed.
Backed by many years of experience, Neymanowski indicated that his dispatchers are very familiar with the area and technology is no substitute for the information stored in their heads.
‘They know the streets. They know the landmarks,? he said.
The chief told the board about a recent incident in which a father, driving with his wife and infant child, called 9-1-1 looking for a hospital because his baby was reportedly having trouble breathing.
Since he was already heading eastbound on Seymour Lake Road toward the village, the dispatcher directed the father to the police station on W. Burdick St. and simultaneously dispatched the fire department, who arrived on the scene ‘in less than a minute.?
‘Even with all my experience that minute seemed like an eternity,? Neymanowski said.
Fortunately, the baby was breathing and had a good pulse, however, it was lethargic and its color ‘looked a little off,? according to the chief.
Young relayed an incident in which an officer was in the dispatch center, saw the call on the computer screen and immediately left for the scene.
‘Before they got done with the call, the officer was there. That’s not going to happen at Oakland County,? the village manager said. ‘That’s the benefit of being small enough where you can do things (and) provide services that the Big Brother can’t do.?