Orleans Parish 911 center consistently growing

NEW ORLEANS ( WGNO ) — The Orleans Parish 911 center has a new group of graduates.

“Among many first classes created, this is the largest class we have had in quite some time,” said OPCD Executive Director Karl Fasold.

16 new 911 center graduates are moving to hands-on training.

Over the years, the call center has been criticized for failing to respond to emergency calls quickly. This is something Fasold says is changing.

“We have been doing remarkably better at achieving the 90% of 911 calls answered in 15 seconds or less, which is the NFP and NENA standards for answering,” said Fasold.

Since taking the position, he’s noticed people quit due to mandatory overtime. He says the agency is reaching out to former employees and two of them returned to be part of this new graduating class.

“They only had to be recertified on the protocols. When they completed that portion of the class, they immediately went over to the floors with the CTO and both of them were released and working fully independently,” said Fasold.

One recruit says he’s seen the backlash the center has gotten and is joining to make a difference. He wants to let the community know they are there to help.

“It’ll always be a lot of pressure because you are dealing with people’s lives, but I feel our trainers helped us out. They prepared us. We are the best and we are getting the right people to you at the right time,” said new recruit Nigel Tapp.

With 125 employees including graduates, the agency still has 20 vacancies, but hopefully not for long.

“By the time we finish the October class, I’m looking to have 100% call taker staffing and be well on the road to having 100% dispatch staffing,” said Fasold.

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