Study Finds Center Problems

An in-depth study of the Luzerne County (Penn.) 911 center concluded that it has fewer than one-half the dispatchers it really needs, and that water lines in the center are routed directly over electrical equipment that would be shorted out by any water leaks. The study was performed over 16 months by L. Robert Kimball & Associates, and was intended to assist the center in gaining national certification. The consultant’s found the center needs 17 more employees, or four additional dispatchers and one more supervisor per shift, compared to the three dispatchers on-duty now. The study also found that a recently-installed humidification system routes water drain pipes directly over electrical equipment, creating a hazard, and that workstations are too small for the required number of computer monitors.