911 Center to be back in city hall 

Since launching the Emergency Medical Dispatch program on Feb. 12, the pre-arrival instructions have been utilized on 92 calls where EMS was responding, emergency officials learned during Wednesday’s 911 Advisory Committee meeting.

“It’s going very well, I believe,” said Rebecca Hafley, director of the Danville 911 Center.

She said there had been 172 calls that EMS responded to, not including situations where they were told to standby, such as domestic violence-type calls. Of those, 53 percent, or about 92 calls, received pre-arrival instructions, meaning that the EMD system was utilized.

“Several callers did refuse pre-arrival instructions,” she said. There were also instances, which weren’t counted, where EMS arrived on scene before pre-arrival instructions could begin.

Hafley said they are working on getting the employees’ hours figured out to best utilize their time in relation to peak call times.

Danville Police Chief Gray said he believed it was a positive for the residents of Danville and Boyle County and the program should continue to improve.

Radios

Officials discussed the changing radio systems and frequencies in the county.

The Boyle County Fire Department is working to get on a new frequency, but Chief Donnie Sexton said they haven’t been able to make the switch yet. The company they use, Southern Communications, is tied up working on the Danville Police Department’s changing systems.

Sexton said they did use the frequency on a run on Scrubgrass Road with good results.

Gray said they are still working through the changes at the police department, deferring to Nick Warren, with the Danville I.T. department. Warren said the weather has been a problem.

“It’s been raining one day, snowing the next … We do have all the infrastructure in place,” Warren said.

Gray said after the changes are complete, they should all “see a lot smoother radio traffic and transmission.”

In other business, the Danville 911 Dispatch Center will be moving — Warren said they have a tentative date to convert to the new servers in June and will hopefully be in the new center, located in the basement of Danville City Hall, in a few months.

Gray said he looked forward to the center being back in city hall.

“I think having them back in the building with us will bring some teamwork and other things,” he said.