. Dispatchers Blame Unified Call Taking System for 'Goofs'
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has disciplined 175 emergency dispatchers for providing the wrong addresses for fires over NYC's Unified Call Taking System in the recent weeks.
One veteran dispatcher told the New York Daily News, however, that the dispatchers have been "turned into scapegoats for problems in the computer system that the city hasn't fixed."
A dozen other 911 supervisors and dispatchers told the publication that there are discrepancies between the addresses in formerly separate dispatch systems and that the New York Fire Department (FDNY)'s STARFIRE system also automatically transposes cross-streets it receives from the NYPD system, further confusing units dispatched to an emergency.
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The PCT's are being thrown under the bus to salvage the reputations of those whose faulty decisions have relegated the fire dispatchers to secondary position in the FIRE alarm reporting process. Stop the foolishness and institute a 711 number for all non-police emergencies! This administration has the technical expertise to do it!
Posted by: ah | December 17, 2009 at 05:17 AM