The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) and Tennessee Department of Veterans Services (TDVS) have partnered to provide emergency supplies to Tennesseans during National Preparedness Month.
National Telecommunicators Week
Every year during the second week of April, we take time to honor the 9-1-1 professionals of Sullivan County and across the country for their commitment, service, and sacrifice.
This year it will be April 9-15, 2023.
At the March 16th Sullivan County Commission meeting, Mayor Richard Venable made a Proclamation recognizing Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, April 9-15. Accepting the Proclamation on behalf of Sullivan County Emergency Communications District (9-1-1) and the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office was Wendy Doran and Sara Berns ( both Communications Training Officers and Shift Supervisors ) and Dispatch Supervisor - Sara Phillips.
Wendy Doran and Sara Berns ( both Communications Training Officers and Shift Supervisors ) and Dispatch Supervisor - Sara Phillips accepting the Proclamation on behalf of Sullivan County ECD (9-1-1) & the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you telecommunicators for all the sacrifices you make to create a better and safer world for the public. Your commitment to your profession is appreciated.
QA Annual Top Performer Award 2022
Dispatch Shift Supervisor, Wendy Doran, Receives Award
During the May Sullivan County 911 Board Meeting, 911 Executive Director, Virginia Smelser, presented Dispatch Trainer Wendy Doran of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office the “Quality Assurance Annual Top Performer Award”.
Each week we evaluate and score 2-3 randomly selected 911 calls for service for each dispatcher. Wendy Doran’s average score for the year was 98%.
Mrs. Doran is dedicated and consistently goes above and beyond what is expected in providing services to the citizens and visitors of Sullivan County.
Congratulations for a job well done!
SULLIVAN COUNTY 911 ANNOUNCES TEXT TO 911 IS NOW AVAILABLE
Beginning April 1, 2022, Sullivan County 911 will be able to receive and process emergency text messages sent to 911. The introduction of texting 911 will make contacting emergency services easier and safer for residents and businesses in Sullivan County. Texting 911 will be beneficial for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-disabled or those who are in danger and/or cannot speak freely.
However, making a phone call when possible is still the best option to reach 911. Texting should only be for emergency situations when a voice call is not appropriate. Text to 911 takes longer to process because of the delay in the exchange information.
There is a lot that can occur during an emergency and communicating effectively through text can be difficult. One wrong number or letter could send an ambulance or police car to the wrong address.
It is essential to use the fastest and most effective way to get information to the dispatcher. Usually, this is a phone call but, in some cases, texting may be the only option.
For example, if you are in a situation where an attacker or aggressor can overhear you, sending a text maybe the safest option to avoid escalating the situation.
It is still crucial to remind everyone that you should only reach out to 911 for true emergencies and should not utilize texting services as a go-to for non-emergency issues.
How to Text 911
The first thing to know when texting 911, is to use the phone’s native SMS app. 911 texting is not available via Whatsapp, Facebook, Telegram, or any other messaging platform. Most are familiar with how to send a text to new numbers, and texting 911 is no different.
If uncertain, follow these steps to reach a dispatcher:
Type 9-1-1 into the ‘To’ field
Provide Details of the Emergency
When texting 911, remember the dispatcher receiving the message has no idea what is happening where you are. It is vital to share as much relevant information as possible in your first text. Make the information as clear and concise as possible.
Include the following:
Location where help is needed
What emergency response is needed (Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement)
What is happening
Send the Message
A dispatcher will respond and will verify the information received as correct, as well as ask additional questions and provide pre-arrival instructions. It is important to keep the phone active and be ready to respond. Stick to sending short to the point messages without emojis.
While sending a photo, recording, or video may seem a good idea, 911 cannot receive this data this time. In fact, attempting to send these things will turn your message into an MMS message and it will not transmit to 911.
If for some reason, your text does not go through, an automatic “bounce back” message will advise you the message was not received. These messages are designed to minimize the risk of mistakenly believing a text was sent successfully to the 911 center when it failed.
Click here for more information and to sign up for Emergency Notification Alerts
Or, click here to contact our office.
Communications Supervisor Completes Year Long RPL Training
In October 2020, Communications Supervisor, Sara Phillips, began her year long quest to obtaining the Registered Public Safety Leader (RPL) certification. This course covers many management topics concerning emergency communications operations. Mrs. Phillips graduated in September 2021.
Mrs. Phillips was promoted to Communications Supervisor in 2018. She has implemented many new policies and procedures to improve the services dispatchers provide to the emergency response agencies and the public. The dispatchers are meeting and exceeding training requirements and standards. Her next goal is obtaining certification as an Emergency Number Professional and as a Communications Center Manager.
Sullivan County 911 Chooses Hyper-Reach Mass Notification System
In April of 2022, Sullivan County ECD 911 will be installing and sharing an emergency notification system with Kingsport 911. The vendor chosen is Hyper Reach. This system includes automated weather alerts, real working IPAWS, SMS-based citizen registration and many others. Hyper-Reach was built for emergency response. Emergency response has a much more stringent set of requirements than non-emergency uses. Hyper-Reach was designed to meet this set of requirements.
This program will allow us to send emergency and non-emergency messages to the public when needed. This is an automated system, so sending messages is easy to set up and execute. These messages can be limited to certain geographic areas inside Sullivan County or can be sent to the entire county, and/or visitors to our area.
Hyper Reach can alert citizens and others in our community such as: visitors, emergency responders, public officials, special response teams, staff, etc. It will keep records of messages sent, who received them, and whether they sent a response if needed.
The community will have the opportunity to add their cell phone information to the system, or opt out at any time. This system is especially important during a missing child or adult situation, a hazard materials leak/exposure, an imminent danger in the area, severe weather, etc.
Look for a new link on our website in April 2022 and sign up to ensure you receive these important and potentially life-saving notifications.
APCO Project 33 Certification
Sullivan County Emergency Communications District, in conjunction with the Communications Division of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, recently submitted their training curriculum for APCO International’s Agency Training Program Certification, a Project 33® Initiative, for review and certification.
APCO International conducted a review of our newly published Training Manual, practical tests, and written testing materials, including the proofs for over 160 standards. The proofs showed and ensured we are meeting all applicable National Standards.
The review evaluated our training curriculum to ensure it provides trainees with both the required content and focuses on the demonstration of decision and psychomotor skills cited within the standards.
On February 1, 2022, we received a letter from APCO International stating:
“On behalf of APCO International and APCO’s Agency Training Program Certification Committee, I am pleased to inform you that the Sullivan County Emergency Communications training curriculum has been approved and is certified as meeting APCO ANS 3.103.2-2015: Minimum Training Standards for Public Safety Telecommunicators and qualified to carry “APCO International’s Agency Training Program Certification” designation. This certification is valid for a period of three years and will require recertification on a three-year cycle thereafter.”
“Your agency will be recognized during the ‘Food for Thought’ Luncheon taking place as part of APCO 2022, APCO’s Annual Conference & Expo, in Anaheim, CA. “
Sullivan County 911 is only the third agency in Tennessee to receive this recognition and certification. The other two Tennessee agencies are Hamilton County ECD 911 and Clarksville Police Fire & Dispatch.
This has been a joint project between Sullivan County 911 and the Communications Division of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office.
Welcome to our Newest Board Members
Amy Brown - Operations Director for Sullivan County EMS
Amy Brown, Operations Director for Sullivan County EMS has been appointed by the County Commission to serve on the Sullivan County Emergency Communications Board. Mrs. Brown’s term of office will be from September 1, 2021, to August 31, 2025.
Mrs. Brown is a Tennessee licensed paramedic and has worked in emergency services for most of her adult life. She has served as the Operations Director at Sullivan County EMS since 2016. Mrs. Brown was “Employee of the Year 2011” for Sullivan County EMS. She received the leadership aware and served as class president at Walter’s State Community College in 2011-2012. She was on the President’s list every semester. She is currently attending Columbia Southern University with a December 2021 expected graduation.
Drew Deakins - Sullivan West Firefighter
Andrew “Drew” Deakins has been appointed by the County Commission to serve Terry Jones remaining term on the Sullivan County Emergency Communications District Board of Directors. Mr. Jones resigned in June 2021. Mr. Deakins will serve from September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2024.
Mr. Deakins has been in emergency services for almost 30 years. He has been a member of Sullivan West Fire Department since 1994. His professional career is in communications, public relations, marketing, and outreach. He has been the recipient of many awards throughout his career.
We welcome Amy and Drew to our Board and look forward to working with them in the future.
QA Annual Top Performer Award 2021
Dispatch Shift Supervisor, Hunter Morrell, Receives Award
During the September Sullivan County 911 Board Meeting, 911 Executive Director, Virginia Smelser, presented Dispatch Shift Supervisor Hunter Morrell of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office the “Quality Assurance Annual Top Performer Award”.
Each week we evaluate and score 2-3 randomly selected 911 calls for service for each dispatcher. Hunter Morrell’s average score for the year was 98%. This is two years in a row Hunter Morrell has received this award.
Mr. Morrell is dedicated and consistently goes above and beyond what is expected in providing services to the citizens and visitors of Sullivan County.
Congratulations for a job well done!
Upgrades to Sullivan County 911
Tennessee State 911 Network and Texting
Over the last couple of years, the Tennessee Emergency Communications Board (TECB) has been working with AT&T to implement a statewide 911 network interconnecting all 911 Centers together. This will allow for emergency re-routing of 911 calls in the event of major disasters. Additionally, this system will provide statistics from each 911 district to the TECB. Sullivan County 911 went online as part of this network in February 2021.
Now that we are part of the state network, we have requested installation of texting to 911 for Sullivan County. Sullivan County 911 has been installed and is operational in early 2022.
Keeping Current
In January of 2020, Sullivan County 911 installed a major upgrade to our call taking equipment. Then in March of 2020, our mapping systems were upgraded with new server hardware and the latest software versions. Our Board of Directors work very hard to ensure Sullivan County 911 uses the best equipment available to serve our citizens. 911 is a lifeline for each resident, business, and visitor in our area and we take that responsibility very seriously.
Emergency Back Up
The 2020 Christmas Day bombing in Nashville taught public safety and 911 centers many lessons. One of the biggest for our industry is the need for multiple system redundancies to ensure coverage during a disaster of any kind. As the bomb struck the main AT&T building in downtown multiple 911 outages began to occur across middle and west Tennessee. Thankfully, the cooperation of multiple agencies and companies working with the centers helped to keep 911 calls from going unanswered.
After the bombing, locally we began working on plans for additional redundancy in our Sullivan County 911 dispatching systems. One step we are taking is assembling a backup communications center that could be brought into service quickly to provide for 911 call taking and public safety dispatching. This backup communications center is in a separate location away from the main center and should be operational by Spring 2022.
Currently, we have alternating routing of 911 calls and dispatching services in place with another local 911 agency. If both centers are not impaired by the same incident, this rerouting provides for a quick solution.