PERRY OFFICIALS CITE ADVANTAGES TO E-911

PERRYVILLE -- The Enhanced-911 system that Perry County voters approved Tuesday will not come soon enough for Mary Bohnert, ambulance service manager.

Voters approved the 15 percent surcharge on basic telephone bills to pay for the system by an almost 3-1 vote, 871-312.

Residential telephone bills will increase in Perryville's 547 exchange by $1.01 per month while the rest of the county will pay 83 cents more monthly. Business customers will be assessed about $3 more per month.

Bohnert, one of six members of the county's 911 advisory committee, related two recent incidents where the enhanced system would have been much more beneficial than the current 911 operation, which only provides the telephone number from where the call is made.

Bohnert said an elderly woman called 911, but was so short of breath that she couldn't get her words out to explain the problem or give her address.

"I was wondering if she would ever be able to tell us," Bohnert said. "She finally did, but she was in pretty bad shape when we got there."

Those seconds, leading to minutes, would have been saved with an Enhanced 911 system, Bohnert said. Dispatchers would have known the caller's address immediately and could have sent help without having to wait for the woman to speak, Bohnert said.

In another instance, the 911 dispatcher received a call from a man seeking an ambulance who lives in the county and gave his address as Route 1. Before the dispatcher could get specific directions, he hung up and went outside. He didn't hear the phone ring when the dispatcher called back for directions.

Bohnert also said the new system will help lessen prank calls to 911 since addresses and specific directions will be immediately known to dispatchers.

"I'm glad that people saw the need for an enhanced system," Bohnert said. "When there is an emergency, we will be able to respond quicker."

Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf said Tuesday's vote was "definitely a step in the right direction." He said it will take some time to map the county addresses and set up the equipment for the new system, but he is looking forward to the improvement.

He said county residents need to be prepared to give accurate directions when calling 911 until the new system is in place. He estimated at least 18 months to properly map the county.

Maj. Bill Jones, Perryville's assistant police chief and also a member of the 911 advisory committee, said he was "extremely pleased" with Tuesday's vote.

"With the enhanced system, we can provide a better service to the people of the community," Jones said.

The enhanced 911 system and computer data base will be automatically updated with new phone numbers, disconnections and address changes, Jones said. The data base can also show if someone at a residence has unusual medical conditions or if there are hazardous materials stored at a business location, he said.

Jones expects the advisory committee to meet within two weeks to continue its discussions on the enhanced system. He expects the priorities to be selecting a consulting firm and arranging for address mapping outside Perryville's city limits.

He also expects the Perry County Commission to select some additional members to the advisory committee from the general public. All six current members deal with emergency response, so having an outside viewpoint is considered appropriate, Jones said.

The committee has studied several 911 systems already, including those in Cape Girardeau, Ste. Genevieve and Jefferson counties. The committee will buy equipment and have it installed as the mapping process is done, Jones said.

Two 911 answering points are planned for Perry County -- one at the Perryville Police Department for calls inside the city limits and the second at the sheriff's office for all other calls. An estimate showed the cost to equip each area at $105,000.

Jones said it is important for the advisory committee to make good decisions from the very beginning to make it easier to implement the 911 system later. He anticipates the advisory committee remaining busy for some time.

The monthly revenue from the 15 percent surcharge on Perry County's 7,300 telephones is estimated at $11,700. Approximately 88 percent of those telephones are in the Perryville exchange, 10 percent in the Frohna-Altenburg areas and 1 percent each in St. Mary's and Old Appleton.