Fresno County Dispatch Center Makeover

Some of our equipment we couldn't even buy replacements because it was so out of date."

16:48 ken: fresno county updates its ..

9-1-1 dispatch center..

Will it improve response time ?

Its all about closing the response gap ken: the county is also looking for new recruits to help staff the new dispatch center.

Lindsey: sheriff margaret mims says the investment will help emergency response across the county.

Lindsey: cbs47's patrick nelson is live tonight at the fresno county sheriff's office with more on the sheriff's plans.

Patrick patrick: right now 22 dispatchers work in the basement of the fresno county sheriff's office.

Sheriff mims tells me her vision is to hire more dispatchers and to give them an office with windows, new chairs, and a state of the art dispatch system.

Nats phone ringing 911 what's your emergency in this small room-- when disaster strikes-- phones ring.

Patrol officers like sgt.

Tom grilione-- rely on the expertise of fresno county dispatchers to protect them every single day.

Sgt.

Grilione has worked with dispatchers for almost 25 years.

Sgt.

Tom grilione / fresno county sheriff's office 4:21 "we can't do our job without them.

They are extremely important.

Without the proper information we don't know what we're rolling into."

4:29 this is one of the busiest dispatch centers in the valley.

Sheriff margaret mims / fresno county 15:26 "currently we dispatch for the city of san joaquin where we have a contract, the city of kerman, for parlier, for kingsburg, and for sanger."

15:34 to keep up with the workload-- changes are coming 16:40 "our dispatch center needed an update.

Some of our equipment we couldn't even buy replacements because it was so out of date."

16:48 an overhaul of everything from the chairs dispatchers sit in-- to the technology they use to process 911 calls 23:08:04 "the system we purchased is called viper and we used about half a million dollars from state moneys to help pay for this system."

8:12 improving the speed of emergency response.

05:50 "when a 9-1-1 call comes in it can sense which dispatcher is on headset and on a non emergency call, or landline and it will ring in their ear to tell them you're getting a 9-1-1 call, so we answer that call much more quickly."

6:05 and sheriff mims plans to hire more dispatchers to usher in the new era.

17:54 "you have to be 21 years old and we will hire you and train you.

It's not easy, but i truly believe it's a calling."

18:01 patrick: sheriff mims says it will take some time before it's implemented, but this news dispatch system will allow 9-1-1 text messages.

If you would like more information about a job as a fresno county dispatcher i've posted a link on our website yourcentral valley.com.

Live at the fresno county sheriff's office patrick nelson cbs47 eyewitness