WASHINGTON CO. E-911 DIRECTOR SAYS EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIMES ‘FANTASTIC’

  

Washington County E-911 Director Robyn Hood says the county is doing very well with response times to emergency calls.

On Tuesday, Hood told County Commissioners that response times are “fantastic” for city and county departments.  She said dispatch is at 37 seconds processing time for priority one calls, which are considered the highest priority. 

Hood said that puts the Brenham Police Department at 4 minutes and 32 seconds for average time to arrive at the scene, with the on-scene time being 13 minutes and 31 seconds for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and 10 minutes and 3 seconds for EMS. 

For the fire departments, Hood said the Brenham Fire Department is at 28 seconds to get out of a priority one call and has an on-scene time of 5 minutes and 51 seconds.  She said the volunteer fire departments are “out the door” at 45 seconds, a number County Judge John Durrenberger called “outstanding.”

Hood said she is working with the city and county fire departments on training to get them all on the same page by modifying call types for uniformity and using the same terminology.

Hood also gave an update about a new work schedule for E-911 operators.  The department is moving to a format where every operator will have three or four fixed days off per week.

Currently, operators work a schedule of two days on, two days off, two days on, three days off.  Hood said this system was difficult for 12-hour shift work, especially night shifts, as employees would often spend their first day off sleeping and not have much time to perform other tasks like getting their children to appointments.  She believes the new arrangement should be more accommodating to employees.