CINCINNATI — A number of 911 dispatch centers across the Tri-State have come together in hopes of providing better and faster responses during emergencies.
The Warren County Telecommunications 911 dispatch center receives hundreds of calls a day, some requiring help from surrounding agencies or counties. That's why the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Warren County, West Chester and Northeast Communications have brought their Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) programs together for what they are calling CAD-to-CAD.
“You’re gonna see more working together, more cross-county agencies working together,” said Joshua Moyer, public safety systems manager for Warren County Telecommunications.
When any of the agencies that are part of the new CAD-to-CAD system receive a call, all the information from that call appears in the hub. If a multi-agency response is needed, everyone will already have the information.
“If something's going on and we’re working it together, we can ... pass information back and forth quickly,” Moyer said.
Watch to see how the CAD-to-CAD system works towards faster response times:
Before the new system, dispatch centers would have to call one another for help and updates — something that could be delayed by a few minutes.
“We can also see all the units, they’re status in real time,” Moyer sais. “So it’s constantly updating.”
And in an emergency, every second counts.
“We’ll be able to know who’s available, we’ll be able to know where they’re at,” Moyer said. “So if it’s a closer unit than one of ours would be, then we might pull their unit for a life-safety issue.”
That’s the overall goal of the CAD-to-CAD system: faster and better responses.
“Anything we get that’s gonna be critical, they’re gonna be able to see in real time,” Moyer said.
The program first launched Tuesday morning, and officials say so far it’s working well.
Butler County, the City of Franklin and the City of Fairfield are all currently transitioning to the new system, casting an even wider net of help. They hope to get more agencies into the new system.
