Cole County upgrades emergency dispatch system to decrease call times

COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Cole County Commissioners approved just under $125,000 to upgrade the emergency dispatch system used by fire, police and emergency medical services.

The upgrades are part of the American Rescue Plan Act funds the county allocated to emergency services. Cole County received $15 million from ARPA, and commissioners set aside $1.6 million for emergency services, including $250,000 specifically for infrastructure upgrades. On Tuesday, Cole County Commissioners approved the 9-1-1 upgrade project.

Commissioner Harry Otto said the hope is the upgrades will reduce call times for emergency services. The national average emergency response time in a rural county is seven minutes, according to the National Library of Medicine. Cole County EMS's most recent response time data, which is from 2019, was eight minutes and nine seconds, over a minute slower than the national average.

The new system, called Intralife & Safety, will streamline the calling process and provide information on who is calling and where they're calling from on the communicator's screen.

"We don't have to ask what's your name, who you're calling for, what's your address, all of that information is done electronically," said Cole County EMS Chief Eric Hoy.