Fort Worth is searching for its first 911 communications administrator.
The administrator will have a tall task ahead of them. Fort Worth is transitioning EMS services from MedStar to its fire department, and MedStar dispatch employees will transfer over to continue providing dispatch services alongside fire personnel. The administrator is set to lead that transition and help shape the city’s 911 system overall.
“There’s a lot of up in the air. But I think that this person will help us really hone in and address some of the transfers and call issues that we’ve been having” with dispatch, Assistant City Manager Valerie Washington said.
The salary range for the 911 communications administrator is $160,000 to $185,000. They will report to an assistant city manager alongside the chief of police and fire chief, acting in a coordinating role.
The position has been in the wings for some time. At an April meeting, Mayor Mattie Parker lamented the fact that money was set aside in the 2024 budget to hire the administrator, only to go unspent.
“I think the city has really dropped the ball in moving with a sense of urgency around this so I just want us to pick that up,” Parker said at the time.
At a July 26 collective bargaining agreement meeting with the fire union, Washington said part of the delay was working with all involved, including police, fire and MedStar, to come up with a consensus around the job description.
Now, they’re making progress; the position has been posted, and applications close Aug. 2. There are 26 applicants so far, many of whom are managers at communications centers in other jurisdictions, Washington said. Once applications close, the city will work with its outside hiring consultant to find the best fit for the position, which could take several months.
“Mayor and council are champing at the bit,” Washington said.
The administrator will also join the city amid ongoing work by outside consultant Fitch & Associates to tighten up Fort Worth’s 911 dispatch system. Many of the ideas to improve the 911 system came from a collaborative working group. That group includes representatives from the city manager’s office; the IT, human resources, police and fire departments; Tarrant County 911 District; and the nonemergency call team.
Right now, residents who call 911 for a medical emergency first speak with a police dispatcher, then a MedStar dispatcher, who may ask repetitive questions. If a fire response is needed, a third transfer happens.
“That is a very awkward process. It is certainly far from ideal,” Bruce Moeller, senior consultant with Fitch & Associates, said.
Moeller said Fitch has gathered data from the various first responder agencies and is now beginning analysis to help build alternative dispatch models. Through that analysis, modeling can help determine how many people the city might need at a given time of day to meet dispatch goals under different scenarios, he said.
Consultants will present those findings to council and department heads to ensure there aren’t any oversights or errors, and then continue forward to draft a final report.
Fitch is also researching colocation opportunities for dispatchers across the first responder agencies. Dispatchers for police, fire and MedStar are currently housed separately, which officials fear leads to further inefficiencies. Officials are searching for a location to host a shared communications center.
The plan is to wrap up Fitch’s 911 study by January 2025. The transition to a fire-based EMS will take several further months, with an anticipated delivery date toward summer or fall 2025.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.