Westmoreland gets grant to buy mobile 911 dispatch units

Five mobile consoles will be purchased this year to serve as a temporary backup system for Westmoreland County 911 emergency dispatch operations, officials said.

A $529,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will pay for the mobile units that will be like the hardware used by dispatchers at the county’s emergency management center on Donohoe Road in Hempfield, Department of Public Safety Deputy Director Scott Stepanovich said.

“It’s coming down the pipe where we will have to have a 911 backup system in place, so this is critical infrastructure to have,” Stepanovich said.

County commissioners are expected to vote today to accept the grant award.

Each mobile unit features a weatherproof crate that holds a fold-out table, three to five laptop computers and communications equipment used by operators to take emergency calls, show data and to dispatch police, fire and ambulance crews.

Stepanovich said the system is portable, meaning it can be used at emergency scenes but also function as a backup should technical or other issues render inoperable the county’s hard-wired 911 center in Hempfield.

“Currently, there is no 911 backup center,” Stepanovich said. “We will be required to have one by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), and that’s a very costly system.”

The county operates with 22 stations at its emergency center for dispatchers and call takers. The center typically is staffed with about 10 employees on each shift. The center operates 24 hours a day and receives an average of about 860 calls daily.

The mobile units will allow county officials to use additional personnel during active emergencies, Stepanovich said.

The consoles are expected to be purchased and be ready for use by the end of the year.

Westmoreland officials in recent years have focused on expanding the public safety department’s ability to operate in the field in emergency situations. It bought a $516,000 mobile command center in 2018. It includes a large trailer with internet, mapping and communications equipment and two mobile surveillance units featuring cameras atop 37-foot masts and six drones for aerial reconnaissance.

“Without these, if we have a bad outage, we will be down,” Stepanovich said. “This provides a solution to that.”