By Rich Pollack
Highland Beach town commissioners last month gave tentative approval to a proposed revamping and streamlining of the way emergency calls are received and emergency vehicles dispatched.
If commissioners give formal approval to the plan in August, police and fire dispatch services for Highland Beach will be provided by the City of Delray Beach, rather than the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office.
In approving the change, commissioners said they believe the improvement in service will justify the annual cost of $54,000.
“It’s a two-sided coin, but safety has to be the winner,” said Commissioner Lou Stern.
During a recent presentation, Police Chief Craig Hartmann told commissioners that residents would be better served if the town contracted with Delray Beach for dispatch services, rather than continue with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office.
Under the current system, Hartmann said, 911 calls from Highland Beach are routed to the Sheriff’s Office dispatch center in West Palm Beach. Because Highland Beach police officers are on the Sheriff’s Office radio channel, police emergency calls can be dispatched directly to the officers.
The process for dispatching fire and medical emergency calls, however, is more complicated, since Delray Beach Fire-Rescue provides those services to Highland Beach residents.
Medical and fire emergency calls are received by the Sheriff’s Office dispatchers and then transferred to dispatchers in Delray Beach. In almost all cases, callers are asked to repeat information, which causes delays.
If dispatch services for Highland Beach are provided by Delray Beach, however, Hartmann and Delray Beach Fire-Rescue Chief Danielle Connor said callers would only have to provide information once and the need to transfer calls would be eliminated.
“At the end of the day, each of your residents will receive more timely care through the elimination of the middleman,” Connor told Highland Beach commissioners.
In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, Delray Beach Fire-Rescue responded to 736 calls in Highland Beach, with 73 percent of those calls being for medical services.
Switching dispatch services to Delray Beach would come with a significant price increase, Hartmann said.
The town currently pays about $9,300 annually to the Sheriff’s Office for dispatch services. Hartmann and Connor told commissioners there would be several other benefits to using Delray Beach for dispatch services.
Under the current system, Highland Beach police officers and Delray Beach Fire-Rescue personnel are unable to communicate over the radio without dispatchers relaying information.
In addition, Hartmann said, his officers are unable to communicate with Delray Beach police officers via the radio in an emergency. They are also unable to monitor communications regarding emergency situations in Delray Beach that could spill over into Highland Beach.
With the two departments on the same radio channel, Hartmann said, it would be easier for Delray Beach officers to assist Highland Beach in an emergency.
He said that Highland Beach is the only coastal town in Palm Beach County to contract with the Sheriff’s Office. Gulf Stream contracts with Delray Beach, while the Ocean Ridge and Manalapan police departments have their own dispatchers. “This proposal brings us in line with other coastal agencies,” Hartmann said.
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