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Mobile command ownership transferred

On Wednesday, the St. Francois County Joint Communications Center board of directors were updated about improvements to the call system that are coming online next week. The board also approved the acquisition of a mobile command unit from the Farmington Fire Department.

The mobile command unit was acquired by Farmington in 2008, said Todd Mecey, who abstained from the otherwise-unanimous vote since he is both a joint communications board member and the chief of the Farmington Fire Department. Voting in the affirmative were Big River/Bonne Terre Fire Chief David Pratte, Chairman Ron Bockenkamp, Desloge Police Chief James Bullock, Treasurer Ginger Taylor, and St. Francois County Det. Kenneth Wakefield.

Mecey recalled that the state had three units in Jefferson City in 2008 and made two of them available by grant. The grant winners were City of Farmington and Greene County in southwest Missouri. The local mobile command unit has been housed in the Farmington Fire Department.

“Mechanically, it’s still a great unit; it’s been kept in good condition, but it needs technological and equipment updates, and frankly, we think Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties would be better served if the county owned it,” Mecey said. “We were happy to loan it out to other cities and counties who needed it, like East Prairie when they had their tornado, but cities might feel more inclined to borrow it from the Joint Communications Center than from another city when they need it.”

Director Alan Wells said the Joint Communications Center budget will easily handle the extremely low price for transferring the title to the county from Farmington, as well as upgrades to the unit’s technology and equipment, which may include improved satellite phone and internet, computers and monitors.

The unit has a conference room in the back and dispatch facilities in the front, each with separate entrances. The dispatch services are powered by generator or electric hookup. At about 13 feet high and 40 feet long, the mobile command unit is sizable, and may require the center in the future to look for a climate-controlled facility to house it and other pieces of equipment stored throughout the county, Wells said.

During the meeting Wednesday, board members also heard an update on the new PowerPhone system coming online next week. The system serves as a sort of electronic flowchart prompting dispatchers to ask specific questions of callers that automatically trigger specific follow-up questions based on callers’ answers. The PowerPhone system is expected to ensure even more bases are covered quickly and accurately, Wells said.

“This system does everything we need it to do. We’ve been able to customize it to our needs,” he said.

Wells said the center’s Public Safety Committee met Aug. 7 to review the new system before it goes live next week. The committee is comprised of members from both St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve counties representing the following positions: sheriffs, ambulance district directors, fire chiefs. He said they reviewed the PowerPhone dispatch procedure and protocol system.

During the meeting, Bockenkamp asked about feedback from the ambulance district directors.

“Did you get the impression that the ambulance folks were favorably receptive?” he asked. 

“It went very well, it’s going to help with call loads and, clean up some of the classification on EMS and fire and law side,” Wells said. “It’s going to clean up a lot of calls that had usually been labeled ‘miscellaneous’ because the operator couldn’t put them in a more specific category. Everyone’s been trained and we’re ready to move on the software.”

And the Joint Communications Center logs a lot of calls. In July, there were 10,887 calls for service, or an average of 351 per day. Of those, 3,797 were emergency calls, or an average of 119 per day average.

The next meeting of the Joint Communications Center will be at 10 a.m. on Sept. 11.

Farmington Fire Department Lt. Adam Schenavar pulls the department's mobile command unit out of its home at the firehouse on Thursday. The unit will find a future home with the St. Francois Joint Communications Center and get updates to its technology and equipment, according to 911 Center Director Alan Wells.

Farmington Fire Department Lt. Adam Schenavar pulls the department’s mobile command unit out of its home at the firehouse on Thursday. The unit will find a future home with the St. Francois Joint Communications Center and get updates to its technology and equipment, according to 911 Center Director Alan Wells.

The mobile command unit that St. Francois County Joint Communications plans to acquire from Farmington Fire Department was state-of-the-art when Farmington won it through a State of Missouri grant in 2008. The center plans to update its technology and equipment.

The mobile command unit that St. Francois County Joint Communications plans to acquire from Farmington Fire Department was state-of-the-art when Farmington won it through a State of Missouri grant in 2008. The center plans to update its technology and equipment.

The board of St. Francois County 911 reviewed the joint communications center’s financial position and discussed a few projects on the horizon during their meeting last week.

The board of St. Francois County 911 reviewed the joint communications center’s financial position and discussed a few projects on the horizon during their meeting last week.

Sarah Haas is the assistant editor for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at 573-518-3617 or at shaas@dailyjournalonline.com

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