By MC2(SW) Greg Johnson, Navy Region Southeast Public Affairs
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Navy Region Southeast (NRSE) is consolidating installation emergency dispatch services – including police, fire and emergency medical – into a single 911 call center. By the end of 2013, dispactch services for 13 installations will be centralized to the Region Dispatch Center (RDC) on board NAS Jacksonville.
These efforts will include every installation throughout the region except for Naval Station (NS) Guantanamo Bay and Naval Support Activity (NSA) Orlando. The consolidation is part of a larger, Navy wide movement to consolidate each region’s emergency dispatch services into a single dispatch center located at regional headquarters. According to Tom Fasanello, NRSE dispatch manager, the changes will help standardize the system.
“Previously, each installation had its own dispatch center to respond to 911 and emergency service requests,” he said. “Additionally, the emergency numbers were not necessarily 911, depending on the location. As part of the RDC consolidation, a new 911 telephone routing system is being deployed.”
The RDC currently dispatches for five installations, including NAS Jacksonville, NS Mayport, NSA Panama City, Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport and NAS Meridian. Residents at these locations will continue to dial 911 for emergency services after the consolidation. For those installations yet to consolidate, instructions for emergency notification procedures will be distributed prior to any changes.
In addition to standardizing the emergency notification process throughout the region’s installations, the consolidation will also provide some technological advantages, according to Fasanello.
“The RDC also has an advanced computer-aided dispatch system that automates the exact response recommendation based on the nature and location of the emergency.
It also provides a mapped location of the caller. In addition, RDC dispatchers are certified to administer emergency medical instructions prior to the arrival of emergency medical technicians to the scene,” added Fasanello.
“While the time frame for the consolidation will vary depending on location, the RDC will make public awareness a priority,” Fasanello said.
“At about two months out, we will begin to work very closely with the installation and coordinate an agreesive public awareness campaign,” he said.
Bases that are under the NRSE umbrella include: Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas; Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Mississippi; Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida; Naval Air Station Key West, Florida; Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas; Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia; Naval Station Mayport, Florida; Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, Louisiana; Naval Support Activity Orlando, Florida;
Naval Support Activity Panama City, Florida; Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida; and Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida.