911 Communications

Strategic Plan Goal: Enhanced Livability & Sense of Place

Customer Service Strategy:

The customer service goal of the Durango La Plata County Emergency Communications Center is to efficiently and professionally connect those in need with those who can best address that need. We will do this in a prompt, courteous, and professional manner, always striving for efficiency and excellence.

We realize that our one and only product is service, and we strive to provide this to our community at the highest level possible. Public Safety communications is a successful combination of teamwork and exceptional performance. Our strength and success are tied directly to our employee’s unique contributions, each working in the spirit of cooperation to fulfill this goal.

Core Functions:

Answer, process, resolve or refer citizen calls for assistance relating to both emergency and non-emergency requests. Remain engaged providing treatment or safety guidance and provide protocols for law, fire and emergency medical situations to include best practices in call-handling.
Interpret evolving situations accurately and classify calls for a public safety response. Determine exact location and nature of incidents. Select and send appropriate personnel; manage field units client agency and citizen expectations.
Transmit information to field units and maintain accurate location and safety information for all responders. Manage dynamic incidents simultaneously in a stressful environment with multiple forms of technology.

Budget by Strategic Plan Goal

FY 2023 Total Budget: $2,388,575

FY 2023 General Fund: $655,519

Total FTE's: 24

Performance Results:

Percentage of 911 Calls answered within 15 seconds equal to or exceeding the National standard Increase or maintain above average statistics in answer times for 911 calls; reduce the call abandonment rate. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) requires 90% of all 911 calls to be answered within 15 seconds and 95% answered within 20 seconds.

Budget by Type:

Source of Funds:

Strategic Operating Actions:

1.1 Implement procedural enhancements to improve service level standards for 911 Communications.

2022 Strategic Results:

At the end of July, the collective average exceeds the national requirement. Statistics do show that staffing shortages and wildfires affect the answer times even though we maintain the appropriate standard.
Purchased PowerDMS Policy and PowerTraining.
Deployed IntelliCom.
Aligning Nature Codes with the IntelliComm system.
Working with law enforcement client agencies to standardize definitions of all priority responses.

2023 Strategic Deliverables:

Work to complete implementation all new software purchased to include PowerDMS, PowerTraining and Intellicom
Update policies and apply for Public Safety Communication Accreditation
Stabilize staffing turnover through consistent positive change in work environment and workload distribution
Develop performance measures to gauge service level delivery and create strategies for improvement