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Please, Staff Sergeant Gross, Let Us Have Our Dispatch Back?!

Print this Article See Also: Another Day of Disappointment June 18th, 2009 The Murder Trial: Justice vs. The Law October 27th, 2009 A Call For Courage July 28th, 2008 "Scanning" For 9-1-1 Problems April 30th, 2008 'Busy' 911 Meant Woman Couldn't Report Murder January 11th, 2008

[Recently our writer had an opportunity to review the video tape from the RDEK meeting back on March 7th; the article that follows is the result.]

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When Staff Sergeant Troy Gross from the South East District Operation Communications Centre in Kelowna spoke before the Regional District of East Kootenay board on March 7th, it was hoped he would put our minds at ease with regards to improving the quality of the 9-1-1 service we have been receiving.

Following Tammy Ellis's murder on December 17th, the call centre has come under much criticism regarding its efficiency and capacity to handle large numbers of callers. The two witnesses to Tammy's shooting called 9-1-1 numerous times, receiving a recorded message telling them to stay on the line while Tammy bled to death and her killer escaped. From the time the witnesses started calling to the time police arrived was reported to be about 22 minutes.

The call centre formerly in Cranbrook, which served the East Kootenay region until late 2004, was amalgamated into Kelowna's around the same time as the call centres from Nelson and Kamloops, despite the concerns and protests of many local residence, municipal and regional officials.

Of those in attendance, Lynn Neelin, Tammy's roommate, witness to her murder and one of two people who tried to get through to 9-1-1; Don and Betty Michalsky, Tammy's parents, who's presence was not acknowledged by Sgt. Gross, listened as he formally explained the procedures, details and history of the call centres to the board and fellow visitors.

While providing insight into the situation that occurred in the evening of December 17th, an emotionless and focused Sgt. Gross explained what happened, while those who suffered a loss as a result of that December night looked on. This meeting was clearly about stating the facts and not about making excuses or apologies as some had expected.

Sgt. Gross said the supervisor at the time made a decision to let one of the two operators on duty take a 'lunch' break, therefor leaving only one 9-1-1 operator answering calls. Eight calls came in over a period of 3 minutes which left the remaining operator overwhelmed.

"It did not meet the provincial standard...and this is not satisfactory", stated Sgt. Gross.

The Provincial Call Answering Standard of British Columbia requires 90% of all incoming 9-1-1 calls to be answered within 10 seconds. The reasons why 100% of the calls can’t be answered in the same amount of time is open to debate. Why 10 seconds? Why can’t it be less?

With the Kelowna call centre receiving an estimated 250,000 incoming 9-1-1 calls each year, that leaves a potential of 25,000 with the possibility of reaching the pre-recorded message, thus leaving the callers with the assumption of being ‘put on hold’. When you’re in a situation and panicking to get the help you need, that 10 or more seconds, if you’re not fortunate enough to get through right away, could seem like an eternity.

With the Regional District of East Kootenay contributing $108,000.00 per year towards the South East District Operation Communications Centre, or OCC as it’s referred to by Sgt Gross, we may ask ourselves if our responsibility is limited to paying for the services and not deciding where it originates from?

The issue of the operators knowing the areas they're taking calls from will always be a concern, according to Sgt. Gross who spoke briefly on that topic. For more on that subject see the article "Scanning For 9-1-1".

While speaking of the business case that described the OCC integrations, Sgt. Gross stated the goal was to provide a higher quality of service over time. This can only lead us to wonder how much more time they are going to need. It's been almost four years!

For the most part, we heard a lot of interesting information from Sgt. Gross, including the plan for making sure there are always two operators on duty who are supervised at all times; changes that are hoped will make enough of a difference and restore confidence.

Even if the second operator hadn't taken a meal break that night in December, in all likelihood, there would have been six other callers waiting instead of seven. Two operators can only do so much compared to the five Cranbrook used to have on duty at all times. By next month, Sgt. Gross expects to have three operators instead of the current two.

The sad realization within what Sgt Gross had to say, regardless of everything the call centre has changed and plan to change, is when the amount of calls inevitably spike again as they did on December 17th, the chances of not reaching an operator right away are unavoidable.

If it is a reality that there are going to be times when callers will have to wait, what are they going to do, as our population continues to grow, to decrease those times? Currently, three operators may not be enough. If they're going to increase the number of operators in the future, why can't they do it now? Why are we putting all our efforts into petitions, websites and getting heard in the media? We shouldn't have to.

Please, Staff Sergeant Gross, let us have our dispatch back?! What's that old saying? If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Moving our dispatch to Kelowna appears to have taken an adequately functioning service and replaced it with one that can't always meet the requirements of the standards put in place to govern it. Furthermore, we, the people who pay for it, apparently don't have any say in the matter.

As a side note, the young 9-1-1 operator who was authorized by her supervisor to take a meal break on the evening of December 17th was fired shortly after. We believe the dispatch genuinely 'passed the buck' by firing her instead of placing the blame where it was properly warranted. Exactly what happened to that supervisor is something we'd really like to know.

As of this posting, we have dozens of reports, since Tammy's death, of mishaps regarding our 9-1-1 dispatch, and those are only the ones we know about. Unfortunately, the number of reports we receive each few weeks are continuing to increase. It's worth noting we have yet to find any from prior to the move in 2004. That doesn't mean they don't exist, but clearly they are not worth remembering. That all by itself speaks volumes.

At this point, we see only one reasonable solution to the problems this area has been experiencing; move the 9-1-1 dispatch back to Cranbrook where it worked efficiently without all the problems that, despite everything the current centre tries to remedy, continue to occur.

What it is going to take in order to have the dispatch re instituted back here in the East Kootenays is far more than we at Tammy911.com can do all by ourselves. The petition is capable of getting the ball rolling, but what our MLA really needs to hear are your own problems with the 9-1-1 service. Many people have phoned Don Michalsky and left messages regarding their experiences, but those people should get in touch with Bill Bennett so he can get those reports to the proper destinations. We seem to be hearing about the problems, whereas he isn't hearing anything.

We've been told by many, from the Solicitor General on down, that our goal here is not likely to happen. Do we really have a voice in what our government does? Are we putting our faith in those who care more about money than about the safety and security of the people? Do the politicians work for us, or in some cases of their choosing, is it the other way around?

Only in working together can we find out the answers to all our questions.