The DeKalb E-911 Dispatch Center celebrated a milestone last week, recognizing 20 years as a consolidated system serving all of DeKalb County and the municipalities within. The dispatch center held a special lunch for its employees and board members last Friday and invited several local community leaders to attend.
The dispatch center, located on South Mountain Street, first began operations on February 14, 2005. E-911 Director Brad Mullinax explained how the new center helped emergency communications across the area.
“E-911 has been in existence in DeKalb County for about 30 years, but 20 years ago we as a district, the City of Smithville, the County, and the Town of Alexandria, decided to consolidate to a centralized dispatch center. Before the dispatch center, 911 dispatchers were located at the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, while other departments like Smithville Police and Alexandria Police had their own radios and dispatchers.”
In 2005, the county began renovations on the old Sportsman’s Restaurant to provide a centralized communications center for all departments in the county.
“Mike Foster was the County Mayor at the time,” Mullinax explained. “When we first started, we had two radio channels. We had a fire frequency and the Sherriff’s Department frequency, and every emergency department in the county used those two radio channels. In those days, if we had an emergency that required EMS, we called them on the telephone. We didn’t page them out over the radio. What we have today is a lot more efficient. It has saved lives and it’s saved time.”
Recently, the E-911 system has been transitioning from an old analog system, to a more advanced digital system that makes communications better around the county. “We’re on a new system called TACN [Tennessee Advanced Communications Network], and we should be live at the end of March or the first of April. We’re seeing a lot of public safety agencies and counties join this in partnership with the State of Tennessee.”
The new system features “trunking” radio systems, where portable hand-held radios now relay through more powerful mobile radios located inside emergency vehicles, which will relay radio traffic to 911 dispatchers. The updates help law enforcement and first responders in “dead spots” located around the county where radio communications otherwise might be difficult.
“We went from about 50 percent portable coverage in DeKalb County, to roughly 95 percent coverage. That can mean the difference from an officer surviving a shooting or trying to get help, or a first responded trying to relay medical information,” Mullinax explained.
Mullinax said that in the years following the September 11, 2001, attacks, the need for centralized radio communications became apparent. He said the center has come a long way from when it first started. The 911 attacks highlighted the need for interdepartmental communications, where differing departments are able to communicate with each other in times of need.
“Today, we have the ability at the dispatch center to merge those frequencies together. When we moved here, we had two channels, but we bought radios that have national standards. So, if TBI, FBI, federal agencies like FEMA comes in here, we can all communicate, because we’re all on the same kind of system.”
“We are much better prepared from a staffing level than we were back then. When it was at the Sheriff’s Office, they typically had one dispatcher on, maybe two, but you never had three. Smithville only had one dispatcher. Now we are staffing three all the time, plus myself.”
“We have a Phase-2 GPS wireless, a system called Next Generation, so everyone’s house is GPS located. If a caller calls from a cell phone, we can locate them really close to their location. Even if someone is having a medical emergency, or in a situation where they can not speak, we can find their location,” Mullinax said.
“We also have a new system called Text 911. You can now actually text message 911 if there is a situation where you can’t talk.”
When asked what he saw for the 911 center in the future, Mullinax said AI might be involved. “I never imagined we would be where we are today when we started this 20 years ago. I do think artificial intelligence will come into play in the future. I might not see it in my career, but I see a lot of automation taking over in the future. We will always have to have people on board, but I see automated 911 responses in the future.”
The DeKalb Emergency Communications (E-911) District is governed by a local board of directors made up of seven members appointed to staggered four-year terms by the county commission and city governments of Smithville and Alexandria.
Mullinax said he is grateful for all the local support he and his staff have received. “I want to thank the citizens of DeKalb County and the people we serve. We deal with a lot of emergencies, and they’re very supportive of us. We appreciate being here and having the opportunity to serve our community. It’s an honor for us.”
