The Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office has upgraded its 911 furniture to Watson consoles. According to Sheriff Steve Holton, this will aid 911 staff in managing the day to day chaos involved in medical, law enforcement and fire calls throughout Ravalli County. “We expanded our console stations from four positions to six positions while utilizing all of our available space to create more work space and ease of operation for each of our Communications Specialists, better known as 911 Dispatchers,” said Holton.
The additional positions will enhance the ability to manage critical incidents, such as severe storms and wildland fires.
“Our Sheriff’s Office would like to thank our Ravalli County Commissioners, Cliff Peck with Alster Communications, JKL Electric, Watson Furniture Group, our Ravalli County Office of Emergency Management, our Ravalli County Maintenance mstaff, our Ravalli County Information Technologies staff and our certainly our local community for supporting this vital project,” said Holton.
The Ravalli County 911 Center is a division of the Sheriff’s Office and is led by a sworn Communications Lieutenant. The Communications Center is staffed by 13 Communications Specialists, who answer emergency and non-emergency phone calls within Ravalli County and dispatch all Ravalli County first responders to these calls. The 911 Center is staffed with at least two Communications Specialists 24 hours a day – every day of the year.
“Communications Specialists are dedicated to public safety and are highly trained and motivated to assist you during emergency situations,” said Holton.
The Communications Center dispatches for 12 Fire Districts, 5 local law enforcement agencies, three ambulance services and numerous state and federal agencies.
The majority of public safety services within Ravalli County start with a phone call into the 911 Center. A Communications Specialist evaluates the reported incident and determines which emergency services are required for the incident. The team notifies the appropriate first responders with where the incident is happening and what is being reported.
“At any given time, our communications team may be managing multiple emergency incidents throughout Ravalli County at the same tim,” said Holton. “If you call our center, please be patient as our Communications Specialists prioritize phone calls to manage the details of each incident.”
Holton added that thew Communications Center is currently seeking dedicated, service orientated people to join the team. Anyone interested can complete a Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office application available at the Sheriff’s Office, from the 911 web page (Ravalli.us), or on the smart phone app.