Celebrating National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week
Part one: An introduction to the Logan County 911 Dispatch

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[April 13, 2021]    April 11 through 17 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, and an excellent time to take a closer look at the people, the place, and the protocols that make up the Logan County Dispatch aka 911.

Throughout the week, LDN will bring readers detailed information based on an interview with 911 Coordinator Cheryl Hedrick and Operations Manager Becky Langley, along with messages written by the dispatchers and information provided by Langley.

Cheryl Hedrick is the 911 Coordinator. Her career with Logan County began in 1991 when she started working in the Logan County Circuit Clerk’s Office as the Felony Clerk. After being there for a while, she moved over to the Logan County State’s Attorney’s Office. In 2006 she made another move to the Logan County Emergency Management Agency/ Emergency Telephone Systems Board.



When Hedrick arrived at the dispatch department it was under the management of the Logan County EMA/ETSB Director Dan Fulscher.

In 2019, after the retirement of Fulscher and the election of Mark Landers as Logan County Sheriff the dispatch department made a shift from EMA to the sheriff’s office.

With the department falling under the umbrella of the sheriff’s office, there was a re-alignment of positions and titles. Hedrick then became the 911 coordinator. Simply put, the coordinator is responsible for all the working parts of the system. From hardware to software all equipment concerns and changes are in the hands of Hedrick. While that is the official description, the job entails a lot more than just making sure all the equipment is working. And, in addition, she serves as the liaison to the sheriff/911 on the ETS Board.

Becky Langley is the operations manager for 911 dispatch. As such her primary responsibility is to take care of and manage staff, but again she has many more duties including many administrative duties such as payroll and bookkeeping.

Langely has been with the county for the past 16 years. She began her career in the Logan County Jail, but after three years moved to 911 dispatch. She worked several years as a dispatcher and in 2017 under Fulscher was appointed to the position of supervisor.

With the restructuring of the department under Sheriff Landers, her title became operations manager in 2019.

Langley also sits on the ETS Board representing Logan County Dispatch.

Both Hedrick and Langley are capable of stepping in and working directly in dispatch when needed. Langley actually has the department’s fifth call station in her office and says any time she hears that things are getting hectic in the call center she can swing her chair around and pitch in with the calls coming in.



In the call center there are nine dispatchers who typically work two to a shift.



Tim Centers has been with Logan Dispatch for 12 years.



Josh Polley has served the county in the 911 call center for seven years.



Sydney Zamora has been with 911 for five years.


Suzi Gasparini is a four year veteran of the dispatch office.

The final five who each have been with the department for two years are:


Regan Dahm


Lindsey LaFrance

[to top of second column]


Sarah Combs


Shannon Harris


Cathy Hopp.

Langley said that the future plan is to add two more staff members and to fill two newly created positions of “Floor Supervisor.” With the addition of the floor supervisor, each shift should move from two people to three. There is a very good reason for adding the two new supervisory positions, which will be explained in a future article.



Langley said that education requirements for being hired as a 911 staff member are not restrictive. The job description requires a high school diploma or equivalent. When seeking new staff, the more important considerations are the overall display of intelligence and ability to multi-task by the applicant. An aptitude for computer operation and an ability to clearly communicate are the most important as well as a desire to serve the community with compassion.

The Logan County Dispatch utilizes a software specifically designed for 911 call-taking called Priority Dispatch. That system is used worldwide in 54 countries. More than 80 million calls per year are taken worldwide using the Priority Dispatch protocols.

New employees with 911 begin their career with a three day training session with Priority Dispatch. At the end of the session they must pass a certification test. When they have passed the test, that test is then filed with the state of Illinois and the staff member officially becomes a certified 911 dispatcher.

In addition, the dispatcher must go through a re-certification with Priority Dispatch every two years. In the meantime, there is ongoing education for the dispatchers from the first day of work. The ongoing education is done via online trainings.



Dispatchers also have to train and be certified in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), emergency first aid, and use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

The first two tips of the day come from veteran dispatchers Tim Centers and Josh Polley:


Tim Centers

“Logan Dispatch is an office of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office. On average Logan Dispatch receives 2,000 calls for service a month. These calls can range from non-emergency nuisance calls like barking dogs to emergency calls such as structure fires, in-progress crimes, and medical calls.

“We dispatch for two full-time and two part-time Law Enforcement Agencies, two full-time Fire Departments, 14 Volunteer Fire/Rescue Departments and the Logan County Paramedics.

“We are here to help you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Be safe out there Logan County and always remember, we will be here in your times of crisis.”


Josh Polley

“Do you know about Nixle?

“Nixle provides a mass communications hub for government agencies to provide secure and important information in real time. We utilize Nixle in Logan County to warn residents of impeding severe weather, road closures, water work issues, and important police activity. Nixle alerts can be sent out via text, email, voice, web and social media sites.

“As a resident, you may sign up for free.

“There are a couple of ways to register: you can text LOGAN911EMA to 888777 from your mobile phone, or you may go to http://www.logancountyil.gov/ema and click on the link on the right side of the website. Once you are registered, you will receive a confirmation message on your phone and will start receiving important messages when they are sent out.

“This is an important service that allows residents to stay informed with the latest and most reliable information.”

In the next segment of the Dispatch Week series, Becky Langley has authored a history of the Logan County Dispatch Center and offers a teaser of some topics that will be discussed in future segments, including plans to improve services to the local community through some valuable software upgrades.


[Nila Smith with excerpts from Tim Centers and Josh Polley]

 

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