The closing of Martin General Hospital has caused increased stress on a variety of departments across county lines.
However, the Martin County 911 Communication Center has not missed a beat during the past 10 months according to NC 911. The department recently received high marks after a third party assessment was completed by the state.
Jason Steward has been the county’s telecommunication manager since 2013 and works with the N.C. Department of Information Technology, the parent organization of NC 911. The board consists of representatives from various state organizations, including fire services, medical staff, law enforcement members, technology consultants and legal representatives.
“Starting early last year, the state contracted with Mission Critical Partners to assist staff with performing assessments on each 911 Center in the State. The assessments consisted of a 90-question questionnaire requiring documentation for each element examined. The items evaluated included facility, physical and technology security, staffing, policy, procedures, safety, technology, maintenance records and documentation, performance measures (answer time, medical/fire/law procedures, etc.) customer service, and call outcomes, maintenance records, standard operating policy, emergency response plans and call statistics were examined in addition to questioning of staff on the floor,” said Steward.
The assessment caused concern for Steward as third party audits are time-consuming and extensive.
“Martin County finance, 911 telecommunicators, county IT and our various vendor partners all came together to assist in assembling the large amount of documentation required to satisfy the requirement,” Steward said. “At the end of the assessment, the team forwarded us a certificate of zero deficiencies. I had been stressing about this for months. To finish with zero deficiencies on such a comprehensive assessment was something I thought was impossible.
“This wouldn’t be possible without my team, they are owed a huge amount of gratitude and respect for the work they do and the support they give me,” he added.
The telecommunication center serves residents in a number of ways. Martin County citizens have the ability to text to 911 and have had the service for the past decade.
A recent Bertie County text to 911 kidnapping incident that possibly saved a life has brought attention to the service many didn’t realize existed. The incident began when Bertie County Communications received a 911 call saying a female had been forced from her home and taken at knife-point.
The Bertie County communication center began receiving text messages from the victim. Those messages confirmed she had been taken against her will.
With the text to 911 technology, she was able to provide Bertie County deputies with vital information leading to her rescue.
While text to 911 is only available in certain areas across the country, Martin County residents have the service and can send a text message to reach 911 emergency call takers from a mobile phone or device.
“The past several years have seen rapid advancement in telephone and other communications technology in 911. Martin County began accepting and responding to 911 texts in 2015,” said Steward. “Subsequent years have seen further upgrades which allow for a more rapid and seamless transmission of information from those texting and the 911 telecommunicator.”
Users in need can send a text to 911 much like any other text message.
“By placing 911 in the “to” field, followed by information about the emergency in the message field, users can quickly send emergency information to the appropriate 911 Center based on location information gathered from the device,” advised Steward.
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