Concerns raised over how Scott County 911 calls are documented

BENTON, Mo. -- There will be some changes in the way Scott County and its ambulance districts document emergency calls.

On Thursday, commissioners met with representatives of the NBC Fire Protection District and North Scott County Ambulance District during their regular session. The meeting was in response to concerns brought up by Shawna Smith, who works with both agencies.

"She was concerned about documenting times," explained Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn. "She has to fill out reports to send in and there are discrepancies in times from when the call is received and dispatched."

Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger noted that when the E-911 call center receives calls, the call is immediately dispatched to whatever service, but logs indicate there are sometimes a delay between the time the call is received and the dispatching takes place.

"So now, we will begin being more descriptive on the pages, making notes on the bottom if there is a delay, such as that the dispatcher was still talking to the caller," he said. Those notes will explain the reasons behind a longer than ordinary delay between the time the call is received and emergency crews are dispatched.

Larry Chasteen, director of North Scott County Ambulance, called the situation a dilemma, especially when it comes to liability if sued. He offered a fix, however.

"The best solution for us would be if the county's 911 centers were in one spot," he said. "It would fix a whole lot of problems, as far as delays."

Last year, the Miner center was shut down and combined with Scott County. However, Chaffee and Scott City still have their own call centers.

"We're all for (combining the centers for one in Benton)," said Burger. "Without any reservations. It just makes sense."

There are no current plans to combine the centers.

In other news, Burger said that on Tuesday he sent documentation to FEMA regarding the soundness of the Commerce to Birds Point Levee.

Earlier this year, Federal Emergency Management officials asked commissioners to sign documents by April 21 to state the levee is sound.

Burger said he signed the document on behalf of the Little River Drainage District and affected communities. It sates that, over the next two years, the county will supply the levee certification, which will be provided by the Corps of Engineers.

However, he hopes it will happen much sooner than that. "I just got off the phone with the Corps of Engineers about that," he said. "They assured me that we would have that letter (of certification) shortly."