MAPPING SCOTT, NEW MADRID ROADS FOR STATE'S FIRST JOINT 911 SYSTEM

Ken Bullard has been touring every road of New Madrid and Scott counties in recent weeks, but he isn't pleasure cruising.

Bullard is mapping the road system in the two counties before the creation of an enhanced 911 communications center that will dispatch emergency crews for citizens in both counties, except Scott City, which already has a 911 system in place.

Police and fire departments in every town in those counties will be dispatched from one communications center. During the preliminary phases of the project, Bullard's office is in Benton, but the ultimate site of the communications center hasn't been determined.

"The goal is to be up and running by October 1997," said Bullard, the coordinator of the 911 system.

According to the State Emergency Management Agency, the communications center proposed in New Madrid and Scott counties is the first joint county operation in the state. The money to finance the project comes from a special 911 tax that telephone customers in both counties have been paying since July.

"A lot of people are watching to see how we do it," Bullard said. "They're watching to see our progress and what kind of success we have. I think this will be very successful."

Bullard began his duties April 1. He said he must first determine which roads are properly numbered and label which roads need names.

"Any road with two or more houses on it must have a name," he said. "There are about 162 roads in New Madrid County that need to be named and probably more than that in Scott County."

In addition to designating roads that need to be named, Bullard also is highlighting the roads on a map that need to be properly numbered or marked with highway signs. Many county roads don't have signs because of vandals, or the signs weren't ever put in place.

Bullard doesn't actually name the roads. The 911 board made up of people from both counties will vote on names for the roads, but he must travel every road, verifying it on county maps.

Bullard answers to the 911 board and the board answers to the county commissions from both counties.

"This is what a lot of rural counties should consider doing," he said of the project. "The counties are going to get a great communications center economically."

Not only will the counties benefit because of the economics of jointly undertaking an enhanced 911 system, Bullard said, but emergency response time in situations requiring interdepartmental cooperation also will decrease.

"If you have a pursuit moving up the interstate," he said, "we'll be able to easily notify the next county because we're dispatching them from the same place, too."

Bullard should know about the benefits of dispatching many agencies from one room. He was a dispatcher for the police and fire departments in Cape Girardeau for 11 years.

After identifying the roads, Bullard will be coordinating the equipment purchases and gathering information about a location for the communications center. Then, personnel will be hired and trained. "It's really a lot to do," Bullard said.

Once the communications center is on line, dispatchers will be able to see the address of the caller on their computer screens. Their computer screens also will indicate the best directions to give to crews traveling to emergencies as part of a computer-aided dispatch system.