New communications center will improve emergency call responses in Santa Barbara County
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - A new regional fire communications center is in development in Santa Barbara County for first responders.
The center will provide dispatch services for seven fire departments in the county: Santa Barbara County Fire Department, Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District, Santa Barbara City Fire Department, Montecito Fire Protection District, Lompoc Fire Department, Guadalupe Fire Department, and Santa Maria Fire Department.
Groundbreaking took place Tuesday at the new site, 4408 Cathedral Oaks Road as an extension to the Emergency Operations Center.
From this center a 911 call will get a fire truck or ambulance as fast as possible, and from the closest location to that call.
Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig said compared to existing systems it will be, "not by going to the phone and calling to see if someone is there, but on the same radio frequency, on the same map, with the same computer dispatch center. "
For example, under the current system if there was a 911 call at the Old Mission in the City of Santa Barbara, the first call would go to city fire station 3 several blocks away. Under the new system, the computer dispatch would call out county fire station 15 just around the corner on Foothill Road.
Similar calls would be sorted out along other border lines in Orcutt and Santa Maria City.
Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Chris Mailes said, "and that means I have more resources at my disposal in the city immediately without a transfer from a dispatch center and now Montecito has the city without delay. "
Mailes said after the call, "it will take whatever resources to mitigate it, they are the closest ones and they are the ones that will go."
An expanded call would also get its own dispatcher or team of dispatchers.
There is a mutual aid system now and this will increase the efficiencies not only in the field but in the emergency operations center where there will be 16 dispatchers.
Office of Emergency Management Director Kelly Hubbard said, "we want to insure we have all those partners and are sharing that on behalf of our entire county." Her center will also still have stations for emergency personnel to collaborate in a large incident along with meeting rooms.
The new construction will include an area for media interviews or to create and send out video news releases.
The cost of this operation will be split up by the users depending on their needs.
Santa Barbara County Fire Assistant Chief Rob Heckman said , "so Santa Barbara county is going to pay about 25 percent and it breaks down depending on the size of the agency and the number of calls they have."
The system is expected to be operational with fire calls and dispatching in just over a year.
Hubbard said, "the estimated opening of the expansion of the regional dispatch center is April 2024. It is a quick timeline."
The equipment will be assembled between now and then for dispatchers to train on with simulated calls for service and response plans. Heckman said the personnel will be ready when the project is done.
All five Santa Barbara County Supervisors were on hand for the construction kickoff. Supervisor Joan Hartmann described the building as a "nerve center."
Those who have worked towards the project for years said, they credit their previous leaders for putting together the initial plan and taking trips to Ventura County which already has a joint communications center, to review the operation there.
Santa Barbara County has had some of the largest incidents in the state in the last decade including the Refugio Oil Spill, the Thomas Fire and the Montecito Debris flow.
The project is being led by County General Services, the RRM Design Group and Edwards Construction Group. It is a zero net energy and zero net carbon building, the first of its kind in the county.
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