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The second portion of the program will begin later this month.
The second portion of the program will begin later this month.
LISBON — Columbiana County’s enhanced 911 system could be completely up and running in two years.
The formal dedication and first official county 911 call was made late Thursday morning, due to comments from officials who had worked on the system. But that first call went without a hitch.
Robert Emmons, director of the county’s 911 program, had the call made from inside the county Emergency Management Agency building to the sheriff’s office.
He also arranged to show on an inner wall of the EMA what the dispatchers at the sheriff’s office were seeing in response to the call.
There are five official 911 answering points in the county: Salem, East Palestine, Columbiana, East Liverpool and the sheriff’s office.
Each has specific coverage areas.
The “enhanced” portion of the program means dispatchers see the name and address of the owner or renter.
Emmons said that now when there is an emergency, the various answering points can also handle calls about a particular emergency or accident at the same time. He said a minor traffic accident can result in 20 calls.
“Now everyone can work together to help deal with those calls,” Emmons said.
The call was made on a land line. The second portion of the program will guide safety forces to the location of a cell phone call made anywhere in the county.
Emmons has already mapped all the street numbers in the county.
The next step will involve hiring a company to electronically map the longitude and latitude of the entire county foot by foot. Emmons said the cost will be about $360,000.
Emmons said there will be “millions” of such records that should guide safety forces to the site from which a cell phone call was made. Emmons said people who make an emergency cellular call should keep the call open.
Gary Williams, a former county commissioner who helped start the drive for the service that ended with Thursday’s event, said he would bow out of any further involvement.
A banner at the EMA honored all emergency service workers, and the first call was deliberately made on Sept. 11, on the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America.
Williams said there have been no more attacks on America since then, adding, “9/11 is a day we won’t forget.”
The committee that created the plan is ending. A new group will take over the operation of the system, including the cell-phone project. The new committee is to meet for the first time at the courthouse at 1 p.m. Sept. 23.
wilkinson@vindy.com