We answered more than 137,000 9-1-1 calls here last year along with 334, 156 non-emergency calls for service. Whether you call in to report a traffic crash with injuries or an illegally-parked car, we are on the other end of the line. Most of our phone calls are answered and the issue taken care of in less than 90 seconds, but there are calls that last much longer. Dispatcher Carole Holland was on the phone with a passerby for 9 1/2 minutes providing life-saving instructions to those at the scene of a crash. Dispatcher Larry Hunter game the CPR instructions that ultimately saved a baby's life. Dispatcher Ginna Kuenzli talked - not one - but two very nervous fathers through unexpected home births and was on the line for the first cries and the joyous sighs of relief.
We are well trained. We are CPR certified, emergency medical dispatchers as well as police dispatchers and fire dispatchers. Dispatcher Training Coordinator Mike Jones is certified by the Idaho Peace Officers Standard and Training Council. The curriculum he has developed is being considered by Boise State University for use in the Vocational Education Dispatch Program. Dispatcher Cortney Dennis meets and trains monthly with officers to be sure we are fully prepared to handle incidents of school violence. Dispatcher Jeff Austin traveled to Georgia to train with officers and prosecutors from around the nation to prepare us to handle reports of child abductions. Dispatch Supervisor Jerome Servatius has trained with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Ada County Emergency Management Teams so we can coordinate a response to major incidents.
Most of the work we do is from inside this communications center, but we take our skills on the road when necessary. Our Mobile Communications Center can be set up on the scene of major emergencies. We also have a back-up center in the event of a power outage at the Public Safety Building.
We love our jobs, but most importantly, we love the people. We are a family in dispatch. We also have our own families at home. With the help of dispatcher Julie Avery, we celebrate every holiday twice - once at home and once with our dispatch family - so neither misses out. We are artists, students, musicians, church and school volunteers. We have show dogs and lap dogs. We raise pigs and ride horses.
We are parents and grandparents. We are veterans. We are barely out of high school and we are very close to retirement. Dispatchers Cody Hickman and Cody Howerton are citizen soldiers in the Idaho Army National Guard. Dispatcher Shannon Bice is a volunteer firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician. We are as different as night and day, but on duty we are a family working together to meet one mission - to get the right resources to the right place at the right time.
We are here when you need us - every second of every day. We are 377-6790. We are 9-1-1.
The Ada County 911 Communications Center dispatches for:
Law Enforcement
Fire Fighting
Medical