by KOLTEN PARKER
Hays County is closer to a combined emergency communication center after county commissioners supported a resolution proposed by the sheriff’s office on Tuesday.
The proposal would provide a joint location for 911 call centers and dispatch of police, fire and emergency services for the entire county. Currently, San Marcos, Kyle and Texas State University each has its own location and operates individually. The Sheriff’s Department provides command-and-control resources for areas outside Kyle and San Marcos city limits as well as Buda, Wimberley, Dripping Springs and Driftwood.
Hays County Sheriff’s Office public safety answering point (PSAP) manager, Erica Carpenter, said the unification will streamline emergency communication throughout the county. Carpenter cited a recent incident in which the Kyle Police Department lost power and needed assistance from the Sheriff’s Department, as one of the contingency problems with the current individual locations.
“If we have everyone working under one roof it will make sharing information much easier for the county’s fire, police and emergency services,” said Carpenter.
Judge Bert Cobb said the biggest problem with emergency management is communication, but also voiced his concern regarding the possible safety issues of “putting all of our eggs in one basket.”
Carpenter said the single site will still be safe even though the command-and-control centers will be located in the same building and sharing the same equipment.Each will individually operate its own 9-1-1 dispatch and will have a computer contingency plan in place as well as a back-up center at a different location.
Carpenter said the county is slightly understaffed in PSAP employees. According to the Hays County PSAP Consolidation Assessment, there are currently 70 PSAP employees in Hays County. The Sheriff’s Department has the most PSAP employees in the county, 29, while Kyle has the fewest, 8.
“Having the court’s support is a big step in the right direction,” said Sheriff Gary Cutler. “Combining these efforts is necessary with the growing population in this county.”
Cutler said Austin’s Combined Transportation, Emergency and Communication Center is an efficient model of a co-located communication center.
“We have the support of all police/fire/emergency providers in the county as well as support from all communication centers. The next step for the operations committee will be to develop a plan for location, personnel, computer systems and a governing board,” said Carpenter.
