DESHA COUNTY, Ark. — Over the next few years in the Natural State, 911 dispatch centers will look a little different due to a decision by the Arkansas 911 Board calling many city dispatches to consolidate.
The way this model works is instead of multiple city dispatches, there will be only one county dispatch center.
When a call is made to 911, every second counts, especially depending on the emergency— so bouncing from one dispatch center to the next before getting first responders sent out is less than favorable.
“Hopefully this will streamline the speed at which we receive the call and then get units dispatched to the scene,” said Desha County Sheriff Mitch Grant.
In the summer of 2023, the Arkansas 911 Board issued a new rule requiring most counties to merge their city and county operations. As of New Year's Day 2024, Desha County has officially consolidated.
“There’s one center and two dispatchers at the workstations 24/7,” Sheriff Grant explained. “They will be responsible for all first responders countywide such as EMS, fire, and police.”
Sheriff Grant added that merging their operations took around a year.
“I'm told we've done it relatively quick,” Sheriff Grant said. “In just about a year or so we’ve put this together, as for some other counties, it’s taken several years once they start the process.”
Currently, the county dispatchers are in the McGehee police department, but soon the central dispatch location will move to Dumas.
“The state gave us a building that we call the Southeast Arkansas Law Enforcement Center (SEALEC),” Sheriff Grant described. “We're going to move into that center in Dumas once the remodeling is complete and that will be the county’s 911 standalone center.”
The county aims for dispatchers to be in the SEALEC once remodeling is finished in June.
Although they are only days into this new process, Sheriff Grant said so far they have seen some minor problems.
“We've had some radio issues that we'll be working through with the radio service, we know unexpected things are going to happen," he said.
Experiencing hiccups is something Sheriff Grant said they’re prepared to handle, but overall, he pointed to the good that will come for first responders and Desha County residents.
“Our hope is that when seconds matter, the streamlined process could be the difference to save someone's life,” Sheriff Grant said.
He said there are a couple of things Desha County residents need to know to get acclimated with the merge. All calls will go to the 911 center, but if the situation is non-emergent, dispatchers will provide the numbers necessary.