CITIES JOIN EFFORTS FOR NEW EMERGENCY DISPATCH CENTER

July 10, 2008 News    Print    Email this Article   No Comments

If you knew how many phone calls it takes to dispatch an ambulance or the fire department for a 911 situation you may be surprised.
For most cities it usually takes three phone calls to reach the ambulance or fire department. As for Mercedes, Weslaco, and Donna, TX they would like to make a change and take that statistic down to one phone call by creating a new emergency dispatch center.
City officials would like to keep the 22 current dispatchers from the three cities and bring them together into one location. This center will expedite a 911 phone call faster and it will also allow police departments to pick up arrest warrants in all three cities more quickly.
City officials are looking to put the dispatch center in the city of Weslaco north of the expressway for easier access. Garrett along with the cities officials are still researching for the new dispatch center that will hopefully be up and working within a year.
Officials are looking to federal and state representatives for funding to expedite the project.