Firefighters cry foul on 911 operations; director resigns

The Athens County Firefighters Association issued a press release last week expressing a number of concerns with how the county's 911 call center handles fire-related emergencies.

Shortly after the release, 911 Chief of Operations Doug Bentley resigned from his position, though he said the two events were not related.

The Firefighters Association recently held a special meeting to discuss what they called several ongoing problems with the county's radio system and call center.

"These issues, many of which have been occurring for a number of years, are getting progressively worse," the release signed by association spokesperson Roger Deardorff stated.

Association members reportedly met with Bentley and Athens County Commissioner Larry Payne numerous times to discuss the problems.

Bentley stepped down from his directorial position last week for unannounced reasons. He responded to the firefighters association in a press release of his own before stepping down.

Deardorff maintained that Bentley "rarely responds" to inquiries, and charged further that Bentley "infrequently reports back to the inquiring party as to what action was taken to address their concerns."

In his press release, Bentley also pointed to the meetings with Payne, but said that at the latest meeting nobody from the Firefighters Association showed up.

That group laid out its member concerns in the press release.

"Members attending both meetings asked to have an independent study conducted to assess systematic problems," the release said. "This request was also made several years ago when the new (911) system was designed. Our request for an independent study has been ignored, and a lot of money has been spent to patch together a system which still does not work."

Bentley responded by saying that the county fire radio network was built using specifications that were generated by the county's fire chiefs during a series of meetings prior to its construction.

"After the system was built and became operational, it was evaluated by the Ohio Emergency Management Agency Communications group and was found to be properly installed and operated," Bentley said. "This is not a 'patched together' system."

The second complaint from the association addressed firefighter and officer safety.

"There have been several times that firefighters have not had their radio calls to the dispatch center answered," it stated. "Often other firefighters in the county can hear the radio traffic but the dispatchers report they are unable to hear the traffic."

They also took issue with background noise at the call center that the association said "makes it impossible to understand the information being transmitted."

Bentley acknowledged that noise and being understaffed at the 911 Center is an issue that needs addressed.

"In order to do this, the dispatch consoles were adjusted for volume by our radio vendor," he said. "We have contracted with an installer to install sound deadening material in the room, and we are preparing to reposition the work stations to further quiet the room."

He said that the issue of being short-staffed has been under evaluation since last August, with implementation of recommendations ongoing.

The next concern from the firefighters association had to do with improper directions or not enough information relayed to the responding firefighters as to directions and nature of the incident.

"On numerous occasions, safety personnel have had to specifically instruct dispatchers to obtain a call-back number for cell-phone calls so when the responding department cannot locate the incident, a call-back can be made to verify the location," the association stated. "Securing a call-back number does not appear to be standard operating procedure within the dispatch center."

Bentley responded by saying that dispatch relays available information to public-safety responders, and if they are not getting enough information to make a response, it is because the dispatcher either could not get it or the dispatcher has not gathered the information before the alert is initiated.

"Information gathering is constantly taking place during an emergency call," Bentley said. "The allegation that 911 does not have a policy/procedure regarding securing a call-back number is false."

The association also mentioned that fire departments have requested that a text message be sent out to firefighters when their department is alerted for a call.

"The rationale for requesting text messages was to ensure that a firefighter could check the text message to obtain the address the caller and would not have to bother the dispatcher for the information," the release said. "Another advantage is that a firefighter who did not receive the radio call alert would have a secondary alerting system. The response again was that the dispatchers did not have time to perform this function."

Bentley responded that there are other more efficient ways than text messages for such communications.

"Text messaging for firefighter notification, in my opinion, is not as reliable as the county-wide paging system," he said. "In order to move forward with another alerting method, it should be demonstrated to be as effective, or more effective that what we are currently doing."

The Firefighters Association ended by citing the high stakes involved in the issue.

"We believe that the radio and procedural issues need to be addressed and corrected before a firefighter or police office are injured or killed," the release warned.

Meanwhile, the Athens County Commissioners appointed Scott Warner to act as interim chief of operations at the call center following Bentley's resignation. Bentley's resignation was not associated with the firefighters complaint or complaints about the center from the Athens County Sheriff's office, Warner said.

"We accepted Doug's resignation with regret," said County Commissioner Lenny Eliason. "He has done a lot of good thing during his tenure as chief of operations for 911. We wish him well in his future plans."

County Commissioner Mark Sullivan said he was saddened to hear that Bentley would be stepping down.

"He served the residents of Athens County very, very well during his time as our 911 director," Sullivan said. "He'll be missed as a co-worker and as a friend, and I wish him and his family the very best."