Chatham-Kent emergency dispatchers had another busy year in 2023, fielding nearly 200,000 calls for service, according to the latest statistics.
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This was a slight increase of 0.2 per cent over the previous year, police services board members heard during an annual report presented on Wednesday.
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Insp. Jason Chickowski, who heads the administrative support branch, said many of the calls are related to social disorder or mental health issues, noting they’ve been “trending upward” in recent times.
“Continuous communications to be a complex role within our service,” he said.
In December, new call handling software was installed, which will provide a platform for the next-generation (NG) 911 network that’s slated to become operational this year.
The system will provide increased flexibility with new technologies and multimedia, as well as process information faster.
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It will have improved location accuracy, including within multiunit buildings, along with language assistance and real-time texting.
Increased efficiency also is expected in dealing with abandoned, or no-answer calls, since the operators have to attempt to reconnect with the caller.
“I’m optimistic that with the implementation of NG, the opportunities that will present themselves will help reduce the time spent … on these no-answer type calls,” Chickowski said. “It will help ease the burden.”
The average call response rate is nine seconds in Chatham-Kent, with 95 per cent of calls answered in less than 20 seconds.
Chickowski called the response time admirable, adding emergency communications is a difficult job with rigorous training.
Weathering the technological transition is another challenge operators have faced.
“I can’t say enough about the staff in there. They’re doing great,” Chickowski said. “It’s going to get even more challenging for them going forward with next-generation 911 being implemented.”
The board also heard about the service’s cybersecurity features, which would allow for a quicker resolution to any potential issues, along with enhanced data protection.
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