The Pettis County Ambulance District will soon have new software to act as a secondary alert system after the PCAD Board of Directors voted to approve its expense during their regular meeting Tuesday.
PCAD Administrator Mike Gardner told the board Active 911 is being used by more ambulance districts across the state to alert all employees of 911 calls.
“It’s basically a 911 paging system,” Gardner said. “There’s a software system that’s attached to our CAD system and an app that can go on the phones of all our employees. Within 10 seconds of a 911 call going through, our guys will have an email or text message that tells them the address of the call, the nature of the call and a map of where it’s located. It’ll also be constantly updating as more information is put through by the dispatchers.”
Active 911 works in conjunction with the Sedalia Police Department’s dispatch, Gardner said. Those on duty will still receive dispatch from SPD, but it allows everyone in the department to know when calls are going on.
“I really think it’ll be beneficial, especially for the supervisors and those of us on the administrative side of things, we’ll be able to know in real-time what calls are going out,” Gardner said. “Particularly in those situations where we have an all-call, or a major event.”
Gardner noted ambulance districts in Warsaw, Cole Camp and Jefferson City already use Active 911 and report positive feedback. The board agreed to approve the purchase, which will cost the district approximately a one-time $9,000 for software costs the first year, and $2,000 per year for user costs.