GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS:
RHONDA BASS
EMAIL RHONDA.BASS@CATOOSA.COM
The Catoosa County E911 Center opened for operation in the summer of 1995 under the direction of the late Major Barry Dill. Major Dill made it his goal to make the Catoosa County E911 Center the most efficient and updated center in the area. The center handles approximately 100,000 calls annually that require service, with a staff of 26 members.
On March 10,2008 the Catoosa County 911 Center began its 706-965-HELP (965-4357) line. This line is for general information or non-emergency assistance.
The center runs under the supervision of Sheriff Gary Sisk. The Sheriff and administrator Rhonda Bass see that the center runs with high level of professionalism. The 911 center dispatches Catoosa County Law, Ringgold City Police and Ft Oglethorpe City Police along with countywide ambulance and county and city fire departments. Catoosa County is very fortunate to have an enhanced E911 system. This system allows the communications officer to see where a call originates. The communications officer also has G.I.S. (Geographical Information System), when the 911 call comes in the map automatically moves to the location of the call. The communications officer can tell immediately the location of the emergency. The system also tells them what law, fire and ems should be sent to the call. The system also has the capability to add notes of concern, such as medical alerts etc., when a 911 call comes in from a location with these alerts attached, the communications officer already has information of the possible problem. We have recently deployed Phase II wireless, this will enable communication officers to locate cell phone callers to within 60 to 80 feet of their calling location, if the cell phone carrier provides GPS information.
Catoosa County joined efforts with Chattanooga-Hamilton County Communications in 2007 in developing a regional communications system that will serve South East Tennessee and North Georgia area. The development of the new regional communication concept assures local citizens that emergency services ability to communicate in a major crisis with expedited response time. The center is also connected to Motobridge ISDP (Interoperable Solution Dispatch Application) this enables Catoosa County to communicate over the radio with participating law enforcement agencies in the surrounding states in case of disaster or emergency.
In 2010, The Catoosa County E911 Center was fortunate to undergo a console upgrade along with a 911 answering point upgrade. This was the first console upgrade since the center opened in 1995. The answering point upgrade allows the 911 calls to be handled more efficiently. Every call placed to the 911 center is recorded by NICE digital voice logging system and maintained by law for a predetermined time.
Catoosa County 911 is a dispatch center for the Tri-State Mutual Aide Organization. This organization includes 41 fire department agencies in a 11 county metropolitan area of Tennessee and Georgia. These agencies participate in assisting with major fires and emergencies.
