US county installs integrated text-to-9-1-1

Philadelphia’s Chester County Department of Emergency Services (DES) is completing the transition to a new text-to-9-1-1 system that fully integrates emergency messages into call takers’ workstations, speeding response times and accuracy.

The VESTA SMS text-to-9-1-1 system and VESTA 9-1-1 workstations are produced by Airbus DS Communications, an entity of Airbus Defence and Space.

Chester County has a population of more than 500,000 and is the fastest growing county in the state. Its unified DES receives more than 300,000 calls and dispatches emergency first responders more than 380,000 times each year.

“Chester County DES was using a web-based text-to-9-1-1 system but the public’s embrace of the capability encouraged us to adopt a more full-featured solution,” said John Haynes, Deputy Director for 9-1-1.

“Some call centres see misuse of text-to-9-1-1 — reporting casual non-emergencies or use of extreme abbreviations — but Chester County residents have used the new tool judiciously and thoughtfully.

“So, we’re outfitting our call centres with the best text-to-9-1-1 solution on the market to build on that success.”

Chester County’s emergency responder departments are not county run. As a result, Chester County DES is responsible for dispatching first responders from 44 police departments, 54 fire departments and 23 EMS departments — all of which are independently run.

Chester County DES also answers calls for one borough and two state police barracks that coordinate their own law enforcement dispatching.

“Because of how our emergency services are structured, speed and accuracy are of the highest importance. The VESTA SMS solution puts text calls for help within the same screens and processes as a voice call. This makes response seamless and easy for our call takers,” said Haynes.

Chester County DES has 22 call-taking positions at its primary facility. A back-up site has 18 positions that can work in unison with or independently from the primary call centre, creating a more robust system to respond to large-scale emergencies.

Image courtesy Airbus Defence and Space.