Polk County 911 center prepares for winter weather in new facility

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - As the public and first responders prepare for winter weather, dispatchers who answer calls for help are getting ready as well.

Central Dispatch in Polk County moved into a new building in August. Since then, the new space, training area, and staff have been adjusting to their new home and are ready to show what the new center can do.

Dispatchers are the first to take calls for help from police, fire, and EMS. At the new 911 center, with winter weather hours away, dispatchers have tools and training available to help in emergencies.

“We started looking at the project in 2016,” said Sarah Newell, the Director of Polk County 911 Central Dispatch.

The third home is starting to feel like home. Funded largely through a bill that made its way through the state capitol.

“They put in 90%, and we put in 10%. Put our first panel on Feb 5th, and we moved in on August 12th,” said Newell.

The previous dispatch center was in a basement near the SBU campus with limited room to grow.

“The presence of the new building we have had so many new applications that we haven’t had previously, people want to be a part of the new and exciting building,” said Jared Byer, the Training Coordinator for Polk County 911 Central Dispatch.

A new training room enables a smoother transition for new dispatchers.

“Especially with the advancement of technology, AI and all that, they will be able to listen to fake calls and transition out here from in there much easier for them,” said Byer.

As the winter weather approaches, the dispatch center is currently set up to have 7 dispatchers working at one time.

“Should there be big events that come through, the snowstorm that is going to be coming in and effecting a lot of people, should we need additional hands-on deck, we have the space now to allow those dispatchers to come in take that over influx of calls,” said Newell.

The facility can accommodate up to seven dispatchers in the main room. A state-of-the-art training room can be activated to house two additional dispatchers as needed.

“We can turn that training room into a live environment just with a flip of the switch so I can go from seven positions to nine is needed,” said Newell.

And planning was made in case dispatchers can’t travel.

“In the past we have had to put dispatchers up in hotels, a lot of my staff does not live inside the county, so it is a commute to get home or back and forth to work, and we want to make sure they can do that and do that safely. So, in the planning of this project, we actually included sleeping quarters,” said Newell.

The new building has sleeping spaces for up to four people at a time, allowing dispatchers and staff to be ready at a moment’s notice.

“Emergencies are what we do; we are ready for those, whatever may come. We work well with our partner agencies on what is going to happen as the storm comes through,” said Newell. And we will handle every emergency that comes in.”

Dispatch officials want to remind drivers in Polk County to pay attention if they see a car off the road during the storm, with caution tape tied to the side mirror closest to the road, indicating the vehicle has been checked.

“A lot of times people are going to call in when they see a vehicle on the side of the road, you want to look for that caution tape (in Polk County, other counties or locations may vary) on the car. If responders have checked the vehicle already, there is going to be caution tape on it. That is something that we might as you on the call, if there is not tape on it, we are going to send a full response. That means fire, police, and medical, they are going to go out there and risk their lives in the weather,” said Byer.

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