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GoogleFirefighters were called to the blaze, allegedly caused by arson, Friday morning. Outraged neighbors told the T-G at the scene that the home could have been saved if personnel were sent to the correct location.
The T-G heard the incorrect location given out on fire frequencies Friday morning when the blaze was first reported. Law enforcement officials, as well as a member of Volunteer Fire Services Inc., also confirmed Friday that the wrong address for the blaze was given.
Communications Director Cathey Mathis explained that the 911 caller told the dispatcher "that the fire was on Crawell Road (this is how she pronounced it)."
"The dispatcher asked her if it was Crowell Road and she [the 911 caller] said yes," Mathis said. "The dispatcher paged the call out as Crowell Road. Station 1 Unit 201 asked if it was Virgil Crowell Road and she told him yes.
"We should have told him at that time that the caller said Crowell Road, but the dispatcher didn't."
Mathis said that it was at this point that "the dispatchers start to second guess themselves due to multiple roads with similar names."
"For your information, James Crowell Road is sometimes called Crowell Road and of all the maps that we have, there is not a James Crowell Road listed. We also have a Virgil Crowell Road and they both turn off of Halls Mill Road," Mathis explained.
She added that this has been an ongoing issue. Until the last two or three years, "the 911 Center had no involvement with road names. We now have input in those decisions."
According to the call logs provided to the T-G by Mathis, the time of the 911 call was at 7:56 a.m., with the call dispatched at 7:57. Station 1, Unit 201 and Station 1, Unit 212 were both enroute at 7:59.
However, at 8:02, Fireman 2116 advised all units that the fire was on James Crowell Road. Station 2, Unit 221 was then enroute at 8:03, one minute after Unit 2116 said that the fire was on James Crowell Road.
Station 2, Unit 221 was on the scene at 8:03 a.m. and three minutes later, Station 2 Unit 224 was en route. Station 2, Unit 224 arrived on the scene at 8:07, followed by Station 1, Unit 201 at 8:11, Station 1, Unit 212 arriving at 8:12 and Station 7, Bell Buckle Unit 271 getting to the fire at 8:26 a.m.
"So, from the time of the first initial dispatch, one unit was on the scene in 6 minutes," Mathis said. "If you will notice that Station 2, which is the Unionville Station, was not en route until unit 2116 advised that the fire was on James Crowell Road."
Mathis said that there would not been any difference in response times regardless of the location.
"Once someone arrived at Station 2 and checked en route, they were on scene. Of course, Station 2 did not respond until after the location was known."
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please
I agree with Director Mathis that there would not been any difference in response times regardless of the location, but that is only for the fire truck, not the other fire fighters.The fire truck is not any good without trained firefighters. They were all going to where they were dispatched and that was not James Crowell rd.
The T-G should go and listen to the tapes and not except a log given to them by the mother (Director Mathis) of the dispatcher (Lisa Cook) that made the mistake. If the arson case goes to trail, then maybe all of us will be able to hear the tapes. It is very hard to believe that a house that is in a subdivision and right near a highway (41A)would only have 1 caller to report the fire. The phone should have rung off the wall. Mr. Jones who lived next door, had said that he told 911 that it was past Unionville school. Now is that so or not, the only true way is for the T-G to talk with him or go listen to the tapes. I hope the T-G will not drop this, since the next wrong call could be life or death for any of us that live or travel through this county.
James Crowell Road is sometimes called Crowell Road and it also turns off of 41A and also Halls Mill Road. 911 dispatchers are suppose to question things like this. I would think that a caller should have also said 41A since that would be the way that the fire Dept would have come from.
once i think about it there are alot of roads with the same name, thompson rd st ln and creek..and there are several more, jus pick up a map... that could get very confusing especially for a caller which if they are calling 911 would more than likely be excited and not in a perfect state of mind.. ive had to call before and i was very excited.. hard to think at times like that.. as far as the house fire goes, when theres gasoline coating the interior of a house, its gonna burn quick.. ppl need to find other things to do besides pick on the ppl that may save your life one day.. none of this was started till after the jason "duck" barber was released.. sounds like revenge to me.. o well keep saving lives guys
to: someonecares
"none of this was started till after the jason "duck" barber was released"
It looks like you got something right.
Wrong addresses were not given out till after his departure.
The constant repeat of unit numbers, till after his departure.
Dispatching of stations to the wrong area, till after his departure.
It looks like most of the mistakes did not start occurring till after the departure of Jason Barber. I don't know if there is any revenge being taken or not; but I have one question. What difference does it make in this comm center mistake. It seems that every time someone wants to complain about the mistakes being made at the comm center, someone brings up the departure of Barber. It seems that no one at the comm center is responsible for their own actions. If you make a mistake you always bring up Jason Barber. He's didn't make the mistake, he's not there, He had nothing to do with the mistake. Comment on the mistake not another person who had nothing to do with the situation. Here's an idea. If the mistakes did not start till after his departure, maybe we should make him the new director and get the mistakes to lesson by someone who has proven to do a good job!
Now lets comment on what this article is actually about. Mathis only comments on one 911 call in the article above. Why did she not comment on the other calls? The dispatcher said over the radio that she had a second call to confirm the wrong road. If there was only one call you cannot confirm the location. I would like to have all the info and tapes of this situation before making a final conclusion. I would like to see the paper do more investigating on this matter.
I'm no detective but I think the truth just came out. Have you ever heard if it walks like a Duck and talks like a Duck then it probably is a Duck. There is no doubt that Duck is behind 99% of all the controversy that comes up about how ineffective our Comm Center is and is probably responsible for 99% of these ridiculous posts. Lets face it mistakes are made in every profession and I guarantee you that our Comm Center makes no more mistakes than any other Comm Center responsible for the call volume that ours has.
Now people lets use a little bit of reasoning here. Do you think DUCK when he was working there never made a mistake? Do you think DUCK prevented all dispatchers from giving out the wrong address, repeating Unit numbers, and never sent the wrong station to an area? I didn't know he was working 24-7 while employed there. He would have to have been if he was able to prevent all of these things from occurring.
Duck, Do you not have anything better to do with your time than to sit around and monitor Comm Center Radio traffic and then report on the 1 2 or 3 mistakes made out of the hundreds of calls that are taken and dispatched correctly everyday.
If you are so SuperHuman why don't you just fly around town with an "S" on your chest and stop all the bad there is in the world before it happens and save a few more thousand lives in the process. Perhaps its because you are not Superman you're just a DUCK that likes to "QUACK" a lot.
You know everyone is talking down about the other and actually the 911 caller really reported the wrong road anyways. That house is actually on Walnut Street.
AGAIN! WHAT DOES HE HAVE TO DO WITH COMM CENTER MISTAKES? Just what I'm talking about, no responsibility for your own mistakes. If you want to talk mistakes while Duck was there, fine. Mistakes are up by more then 60% since his departure; and I can prove it. Are you sure you want to go that direction.
This newspaper article was not even about him in the first place.
devil devil devil
I left a comment about the com center on the other article.If you look at that article you will see DUCK did not start the comments.Mine was before his.I have my own opion,I don't need his!AND I did not speak to him,or ask him anything before I posted it!
I also have a scanner because I have teen and young adult children out on the roads.I originally bought it to hear calls regarding my grandparents and father in law(all now deceased)as far as Duck not having nothing to do..He runs a farm with OUR father!!!!!
As all farmers know that is not a scanner under my butt job!
NOW-LETS GET TO THE REAL problem...If mistakes are up 60% with OR without him something needs to be done!
seems to me that its not the mistakes thats the problem. it's the severity of them. i mean did people get dispatched to the wrong place 3 times in one week or not?? jason "duck" barber said it happened in comments from a previous story. seems everyone is pushing each others buttons. but there has not been the first comment from anyone that can fix the problem. yup people make mistakes all the time and no one is perfect. there just seems to be alot more to the last article Mr. Mosley wrote.i just hope he gets to the bottom of it soon. i do admit it makes great reading material. lower taxes, someonecares,capt2222,and justunjust seem to bring out some good points. i just wish i knew who is telling the truth. judging by justunjust "DUCK" is the only one that is posting comments that has actually worked at the 911 center.but i don't even see a comment on here by a DUCK. maybe he will do so now. all these comments are interesting that for sure
This topic should be focused on Comm. Center and not just one Dispatcher or former Dispatcher. All you have to do is listen. Just listen to the difference between each dispatcher.
As to this particular call should the dispatcher not have asked which Crowell rd is it. Or what is the cross-street that is the closest. If a neighbor stated just past the school then they should have relayed it, because Virgil Crowell rd is no where close.
Just a reminder: for the family who lost everything...HOW TO HELP
The Morris family is in need of clothing and other essential items as a result of the fire. Here are needed clothing sizes:
Adult woman: Size 7 pants, large shirt, size 9 shoes
11- year- old boy: Size 16 pants, large shirt, size 6 1/ 2 shoes
9- year- old boy: Size 16 pants, large shirt, size 6 shoes
3- year- old girl: Size 3 clothes, size 8 shoes Items may be brought to the VFSI hall on Prince Street, or call Sandra House, a friend of the family, at ( 931) 294- 7266 or (931) 575-8821 for more information.
My question is, We are paying for E911 fees on our telephone bills, When the comm center receives the call, doesn't the address get displayed? Then all you need to do is use a GPS system and that would allow the Emergency units to get there by beaming the information directly to their units via FM wavebands.
It is pretty inexpensive to do and to install the systems. APIs with the current comm center should be a breeze. This could work with the Police Force and Emergency vehicles. I really don't know why none of these systems are in place.
this has nothing to do with duck. if he is doing anything in revenge i dont blame him. he was the best dispatcher that will have ever worked there and the ones that do work there could learn alot from him. its apparent that if your family its ok to make mistakes. what about the one i heard yesterday. dispatch sent ems to new hope road for chest pain and said the house was first on the right off of hwy 82 when it was the first on the right off of hwy 130 thats a big difference dont ya think?
i know that there is alot of roads in the county and maybe in the city that have alot of the same names. im sure the comm. center has more up to date technology than just a flip out map. is it gonna take a death of a bedford county citizen to get something done. i bet if it was someone that had something to do with running this county something would be done huh? yes mistakes happen throughout the county in all the departments but when your the initial contact when someone calls for help. you need to know without a doubt that youre sending ems, police and fire to the right spot. do it right or get out and let someone in that can. problem solved.
I'm glad that Mr. Mosley followed up on the initial story with this one, but I hope he doesn't stop there. This was one incident, and they are stacking up, day-by-day.
I agree that we are all human and that everyone makes mistakes. As I said in an earlier post, though, if you are committed to doing a job, you should be good at what you do. Someonecares wrote "...would more than likely be excited and not in a perfect state of mind..." referring to the initial caller giving the wrong information. It is a dispatcher's responsibility to be able to handle these types of situtions in order to get the right information to the right resources and the right location.
Captain2222 made a good point that people want to attack Duck when he brings issues to the table. I don't always agree with Duck's delivery, but the message is sound. Is he angry or looking for revenge? I don't know; you'd need to ask him that. It could be that he cares about his community and genuinely wants the best for it. It's not like he's making these issues up...
Justunjust wrote "There is no doubt that Duck is behind 99% of all the controversy that comes up about how ineffective our Comm Center is and is probably responsible for 99% of these ridiculous posts." I hate to break the news to you, but Duck isn't the cause of the controversy, only the open door to it. The controversy is the issues plauging the Comm Center. Justunjust also wrote "...I guarantee you that our Comm Center makes no more mistakes than any other Comm Center responsible for the call volume that ours has." I would be interested to know what other systems Justunjust has been around or listened to outside of this county. Our county is nowhere near as busy as some of or neighboring counties that operate with the same number of dispatchers as we do. Yes, mistakes do happen at all communications centers. Repeated mistakes have to be corrected. Justunjust, if you have a personal issue with Duck, I ask that you address him directly and not attack him here, publicly. That takes away from the value of this forum.
The state of Tennessee requires that "Dispatch agencies shall provide for medical dispatch quality assurance by initiating an ongoing medical call review procedure and a quality assurance program as established by the agency's Medical Director." It would be interesting to know if the Comm Center does any type of call reviews. It is required by the state...(TCA 68-140-502, TN state rules and regs, 122-12-1-.18, Section 2, part d).
Evilmonkey, the technology that you described does exist and would benefit the agencies greatly, but the hardware for the vehicles would be costly. The county is already looking at a tax increase, and something like that would add fuel to that fire.
I would encourage anyone interested in finding out more to attend the Comm Center's board meetings. They are open to the public, and it would be a good oportunity to ask some questions directly. It's easy to ignore these posts, but it would be pretty hard to face-to-face.
I know this was long. Thanks for your patience and giving me a place to speak my piece.
the technology they want might be very expensive, but there are other ways to do the same thing with software and using their existed wavebands to beam information to each car. The same principle was used when 2 way texting was introduced using fm bands.
The thing is, they want what other agencies are using so they can have bragging rights. I can make the same system with used 50 dollar PDAs. Only real time would be to build an API for the existing system to mesh with the portable systems.
Evil Monkey I suggest that you attend the board meetings of the comm center and bring up your point about these devices. Anything that will make it easier for all parties involved should be looked into.
Here is a link for you all to see what the standards of communications centers are.
http://www.state.tn.us/commerce/911/
Unhappy citizen makes a good point, evil monkey. If you have a good idea that could inevitably save the county quite a bit of money, aren't you bound by a moral obligation to come forward and present your idea? If they choose not to entertain your ideas then the weight of that disregard and the consequences thereof falls on them and not on you. Afterall, you are just a concerned citizen who is rallying for a change that could not only save moneys but eventually lives?
But that is not that point of this blog. It seems there is plenty of mudslinging that has proved to be nothing more than a counterproductive and informal avenue of expressing resentment or anger towards individuals rather than issues. The issue at hand is whether or not the 9-11 communications center is effectively doing their job. Regardless of your personal sentiment towards the officials that work for the communications center, we should focus our interal logic and reasoning on whether or not the communications center is performing the function it is set to perform. Making errors is one thing and, as before noted, it is something everyone one of us does; however, when a system continually makes the same errors without any evidence of correction or reflection on the problem it ceases to become an error and rather verges on the horizon of a liability. The keyword is liability and when the comm center continues to make the same errors without correcting, the liability falls on the patient and their family...not on comm center. So, we must ask ourselves; what is it going to take before the comm center actively corrects their mistakes showing marked improvement not only to the board but to the public they serve? That is the function of government; that is the role of progress.
muckraker how can you say the liability falls on the patient and the family when the comm. center continually makes a mistake. if a call comes in from a residence im sure the display shows 123 anywhere st, county or city. the person calling for true help should never be liable for 911 errors. in that case when someone calls for intruder to their residence the home owner should be arrested for not securing the property appropriately. now, back to liability. ive always heard poop rolls down hill. so when someone dies the poop hits the comm. center, then the e-911 board then the elected county officials for letting the problem continue and that could mean some big bucks in a lawsuit.
relicdigger: I am sure what muckraker means is that if comm center drops the ball and then the effect of the mess up only effects the patient and family. The comm center receives no effect from the outcome of there mistakes.
that could be so, the wording made it sound like the fault is on the family and patient. excuse me for any misunderstanding muckraker and other readers.
I can not believe placing any blame on the caller.
When in an emergency situation like that, the adrenaline comes so hard and so fast you can't speak what you mean.
This could have been handled much better than it was.
http://www.state.tn.us/commerce/911/docu...
The first paragraph would have given the address and the caller's ID. Why should there been a mistake?
no where did i read where anyone has thanked unit 2116 or thanked anyone from vfsi. if 2116 had not gave everyone the right location, i bet that house would be a pile of ashes and the nieghbors house would have been damaged too. it appears if it had not been for the quick action of vfsi, it could had been alot worse and the 911 center would had REALLY looked bad. in other words the title of the article should have read "VFSI SAVES 911 CENTER'S BACKSIDE!!"
Well stated Farmerman!!! If not been for 2116 all the firefighters would have gone to the wrong address and the house would have burned for sure. Thankfully he found it!!! We all need to remember a lot of these firefighters are VOLUNTEERS and offer their time to saving lifes. I believe they all deserve our THANKS and SUPPORT!!!
Thanks 2116 for saving the day for everyone!!!!!
Just to let everyone know the early morning of Dec. 27 Station 1 got a call to a wreck with injuries that was at the intersection of Unionville Deason and Old Nashville Dirt Rd. This location is in Unionville's district but we were not called out for atleast a min. or two later when Station 1 ask the Comm. Center to page us out. THE MISTAKES KEEP ON AT THE COMM. CENTER!!!!!!!!!!!
To the people blaiming DUCK. He has nothing to do with my comment.
It seems some have lost track/sight of the real problem/issue -- which is emergency personnel/vehicles were dispatched to the wrong address of the said incident..point blank. The issue is not Jason Barber.
I can not believe Barber is seeking 'revenge' via major mistakes made by the comm center dispatchers. He is only a concerned citizen like the rest of us. I personally appreciate the issues he (and others) have brought to my attention.It appears someone should have stepped forward long ago. I will need to consider (even though my residence is practically in sight of a firehall and EMS)purchasing a firetruck and ambulance to be parked in my driveway, so I can feel at ease when/if an emergeny occurs -- and yes, hire personnel to man them. Yes,quiet expensive, but can you put a price on a life or home/memories? It's unfortunate such a thought would need to occur, but these 911 issues make me concerned/nervous
Yes,we all make mistakes, but as a general rule we have to pay for them. Accept responsibility and don't try to "wiggle" out of it by saying "caller" mistake - the dispatcher dispatched the wrong address - not the caller. As the saying goes, "if you can't stand the heat, maybe you should get out of the kitchen"
Why would Bedford Countians be concerned as to how many mistakes OTHER 911 centers make? We do not rely on OTHER centers for assistance. I would like to be able to lie down at night with the thought help-if needed - is only a phone call away.
well ive done some research of my own and i cant actually find a james crowell rd, every map ive seen jus says crowell rd, go to the commerce and get the most recent map and see for yourself , so therefore the initial dispatch to crowell rd was correct..ppl questioning the comm center is what started the alleged mistake, they should have jus went to crowell rd like they were told.
as i read comments im seeing most of them are made my unionville folks, you guys jus go where your told and fight the fires , leave the dispatching to the dispatchers, if ur not happy, apply for a job at the comm center... money says its a lot harder than u think!
and when u think think about it a dispatcher can only go by what the caller tells them, they arent mind readers or gypsies, or superman( very funny jusunjust).
but myself, if i need help i wont hesitate to call the 911 center. cuz everyones entitled to a small mistake especially when there are so many calls coming into the same place.. i talked to a dispatcher and they have 10 different lines to answer for fire,police,ems,duckriver,etc..thats kinda intimidating to me, i wouldnt want to do it
To someonecares:
If your so great at research then how about researching the actual article above:
paragraph 5 says
"Unit 201 asked if it was Virgil Crowell Road and she told him yes."
The dispatcher told 201 and all responding units to go to Virgil Crowell road. Your own director says so in the article. Again, it's always someone else's fault. 201 didn't twist your arm and make you create the mistake did he? Who do you want to blame next, the Easter Bunny? How about blaming me.
To someonecares, mabye you can research the call two nights ago. Thanks to station 1 we actually got paged out to that call. So that is why we question things.
to someone cares,
as you say.....
you guys jus go where your told and fight the fires , leave the dispatching to the dispatchers.......
How can the firefighters go do their job when dispatch sends them to the wrong place???HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh and by the way I AM A FORMER UNIONVILLE PERSON AND DARN PROUD!!!!
To someonecares:
I am not a firefighter nor a Dispatcher, but I do have a scanner and a computer and I have just looked up Crowell Rd.,Unionville,TN,37180 on Google search and guess what I just got a map of? James Crowell RD. I also invite the T-G and anyone else to do the same.
You must have not spent much time doing your research of your own. After reading your comment about being a Dispatcher is kinda intimidating to you. Thank God that you are not and hopefully will never be. With your research, the firefighters would be sent to another county. By the way, we are paying for E911 service and that has all the bells and whistles, that will show you where the caller is. Have you ever heard of call back, if there is a question. From what you are saying we are paying for E911 and are not even getting 911 service.
I see that you was talking about superman, but what ever happen to superwoman? Wasn't the Dispatcher a woman???? You might want to do some more investigating and how about doing a little better job next time.
I would like to hear from people that have been elected. If the job can't be done correctly, then jack the joint up and replace it and a whole new crew, including the board that is over it, with something that will protect the public. I don't want people to die because someone is not doing their job and I don't want to see my tax money being spent on a lawsuit that is bound to happen.
Wow it seems I have been mentioned on here multiple times. It seems my comments from Sunday's article must have really got some attention. My primary goal was to wake people up and my MISSION WAS ACCOMPLISHED. There has been a jab or two at me, but I am still standing. I do want to personally thank the ones who supported me. Some of you may be my close friends, family, or just someone that read what I said and realized I do know a little something about what's going on.
As for the ones who think this is revenge, hummm if it was revenge I would be calling EVERYONR that these mistakes impacted, and suggest they all join in a class action lawsuit against the 911 center. So, I am responsible for 99% of the postings?? That's amazing!! I never knew I had THAT much power. Maybe I should just run for office.
Yes, someonecares, you are right on two things. This all did start after my departure, Because I could not very well speak my mind and state facts while I was there. As for the original dispatch, you are absolutely correct. The original dispatch was correct. She did say Crowell Rd.. BUT you are failing to mention what happened two other times before this incident. VFSI was sent all the way to Flat Creek for a possible house fire on Mill Rd., when the caller said Mill Ln., which almost 10 miles away from Flat Creek, off of 41-A S.. Then a few days later VFSI was sent to a motor vehicle incident on Pickle Rd just off of Hwy 130. The actual accident was on Falcon Rd. in the far west side of the county, 5 miles away.
So VFSI had a very justified reason to simple request a verification of the road. If the original dispatcher had simply said "the caller just told us Crowell Rd." Then we would have spread our resources and check all similar roads. BUT when VFSI tried to verify, the SENIOR DISPATCHER/CERTIFIED TRAINING OFFICER, just agreed with VFSI when they said VIRGIL CROWELL RD... Oh she did not stop there, she came back on the radio and told she had received a 2ND call on this and it WILL be on VIRGIL CROWELL RD. It appears to me, if she had just stayed out of it, everything would have gone smoother. And in the article, the Director talks about "1" call. So how many calls were there??? Sounds like there needs to be one of those famous MOTHER-DAUGHTER talks!!!
As for there being so many phone lines at the center. The Director stated that the call came in a 07:56 am. From what I remembered, that is just before shift change. So if my math is correct, there were atleast 3 dispatchers there at one time. How many does it take to dispatch 1 call?? Someonecares, your dispatcher friend did exactly the same as the Director did to T-G reporter Brian Mosley. They told you what they wanted you to hear apparently.
What about the $100.000 mapping program?? Did your dispatcher friend tell you they have a map there that pops up automatically where the caller is calling from. Regardless if she is calling from a landline or cell phone. The mapping vender told me his self that Director Mathis would be taking care of updating the road names. This was back in January. It appears she has dropped the ball. That has been changed from Crowell Rd to James Crowell a few years ago.
Here is something that the 911 center probably does not want the general public to know. 911 CALLS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!!! That's right, the recording are public knowledge. I will say, they can charge s reasonable price. At one point, it was $75 for the tape and $75 per hour to make the tape.
I pride myself stating facts. So there you are. My name has been on here numerous times, so I felt it was my duty to respond.. Why are there no responses from ANY representative of the 911 center???
it appears to me, someonecares stirred the pot again, but it appears he/she doesn't have a clue, or maybe they do. i just can't wait for that response. i can't say for certain if most of the comments are from unionville or not. whats the big deal if they are?? i think the last two stories originate because the UNIONVILLE Fire Dept was given the wrong directions to a house that was on fire in UNIONVILLE?? i feel pretty certain that no one from Normany would care.
This is a question to the T-G.
Since it should be your goal to bring out all the truth in this story, so that no one will have to second guess anyone. Would it be possible for you to get all the recordings from the com center and place them on your web site for all to hear? This would be the telephone calls and where they are coming from, plus the dispatches.
I would not trust Director Mathis to give them all to you just like she didn't put everything in the log that she gave you. She only picked out one call. You should have calls from people in the subdivision and their addresses should show. She will protect her daughter at all cost.This is where the County Commissioners and County Mayor should come to play in order to protect the people of Bedford County.
Thank you for the job that you have done, but there is still more to do in order to bring out the truth and make Bedford County a safer place to live.
Jimmy Patterson is a County Commissioner for the Unionville, Halls Mill and Rover area, Com Center board member, plus he serves on the personnel committee of the com center, but I have yet to him explain anything to the people that he is suppose to serve.
Seems that some of you are so CONSUMED with wanting to know the real truth, why don't you all quit complaining and just go to the Com center board meetings and listen for your self. Are you afraid to go and face the Director and the board? That's what they are elected for..... right? Are you afraid they won't listen to your complaining?
Actually,
The Newspaper is supposed to state all sides and to get all information it can within its ability. If information is false and they have no way at the time to verify it, they should not be held responsible for that.
For example: Brian Mosely tried to talk to somalian leaders and official from the refugee centers, yet they never responded to his several attempts.
If the director says one thing, and verifies that there is nothing he can do but to report her side. But he seemed to have gotten the other sides as well. Basically, don't shoot the messenger, this isn't Sparta against the Persians.
humm now thats an idea, the house should be packed for that meeting. looks like there are many people that want to hear all the recordings pertaining to that call. i wonder, do they have an agenda or just a random meeting? would be nice if channel 2,4,5, and/or 17 would jump into the game. i KNOW they have played 911 calls in the past.
it looks like by the majority of the comments from this story and previous one, alot of people see there is a problem there and they continue to bash the 911 center. where are the reps. to defend them?? i wonder who is AFRAID of who??
I have to agree with EvilMonkey. There is no way I would want to "shoot the messenger", he may be our savior. I commend him on bringing the issue to light, but I hate it took a family's tragedy for it to happen. He is not to fault for not knowing. I am sure Mr. Mosley is a good reporter, but he is not very familiar with the operations of EMS, VFSI, and Law Enforcement. I am sure he does not know when medical first responders are to be dispatched, when volunteer fire departments are dispatched to the wrong zones or not even dispatched at all, and so on. How does one find this out?? Well I am not sure how to answer that. Some agencies may classify that on a "need to know" basis. I suppose I can just leave Mr. Mosley an email when I see or hear something go wrong or he can just keep getting info off these comments. I can say this because, I have sat in that dispatch chair and I am still responding to emergencies.
Now, Dump Truck Driver, just to clear something up, the Com Center board is not "elected", they are "appointed" by the county mayor. As for the board hearing complaints, I was "written up" in June of 2005 for an incident that happened in Febuary 2005. I did not dispatch a fire alarm that had been canceled by the alarm company, just as I had been trained to do. I went before the full board and advised them, there were over 30 incidents within 8 months where every dispatcher there had done the same thing with fire and burglar alarms.. They never even investigated it. Also for your information, the complaint on my alarm incident, was made by Roy Ferguson with the Wartrace Fire Department and also sits on the Com Center board. This alarm call was nowhere near Wartrace and was never on the radio. So, I ask, how did he even know about it?? That just goes to show, the BOARD will pick and chose what they enforce. Now, when it comes to the board listening, there are three words that can sum that up, HA!! HA!! HA!!
Let's all go down to the comm center meetings and have ourselves a good ol' time. Rather than debating this on an online forum that will probably get little to no notice from any representatives who have any say in the matter, it might be in the best interest to parlay this rhetoric in an environment that is more conducive towards the ideas. Just a thought
its appears from what i heard on the scanner around 1:30 today, the 911 center did not make a New Year's resolution. they still continue to send the wrong agencies to the wrong place. they sent normandy first reponders to a call just outside the wartrace city limits, where a patient had passed out. there was a wartrace volunteer that had to correct them. seems things are just not going to change.maybe we are just going to have to stop calling 911 and call these agencies directly. we get more use from 411 rather than 911.oh well i will just have to keep listening, it seems to be an everyday occurance
to: scannermanner
hate to say it but you are wrong, the address was 950 bugscuffle, this is actually about halfway between normandy and wartrace, actually probably quicker access from normandy.. so no it was not just outside wartrace city limits, get your story straight, glad to hear all u have in life to do is listen to a scanner too.. it jus disgusts me to read how u ppl badmouth about stuff u dont know all that much about ,
and by the way at the 911 center , they use esn numbers, these numbers indicate which depts get dispatched, so if it said normandy, thats who they sent..
ive said it before, they do a darn good job, they are there when u need them and do a job hardly any of us would even want or have the guts to do, mostly because of the criticism you might recieve, im sure all this talk is making their job any easier.. if u wanna go to the meeting and learn a lil, i encourage it
Actually, I applied but they said, "I was too evil."
I said, "I can changed."
But they retorted, "but you are just a monkey."
I cried.
to everyone reading this, someonecares tried to corrected my comment. apparently i did not HEAR the Normandy first responders get sent out by one dispatcher AND i did not HEAR a wartace volunteer tell dipstacher to dispatch wartace because it was just outside wartrace, and i did not HEAR a different dispatcher then dispatch wartrace. i just wonder if it was correct to start with, WHY DID THEY DISPATCH WARTRACE??
and i was not the one that said over the radio it was just outside wartrace. i simply stated what i heard. so did i not hear correctly ??
so a ESN, as you call it, is never wrong? i guess it was the ESN's fault all the other times too. always someone else's fault.
i suppose the EASTER BUNNY that Capt2222 mentioned Is going to be next
oh and EVILMONKEY, they should had hired you. they need a monkey in that zoo
Does Director Mathis have her High School Diploma or GED yet? Are random drug tests conducted by an independent source? This would be worth checking. There has been a high turnover at the Dispatch Center. I wonder why? This could influence the quality of service given to the citizens of Bedford County.
I am a 17 year veteran dispatcher for Police and Fire. And, I am an outsider looking in seeing what everyone is saying. Take my advice attend every meeting you can, know as much as you can about the system and the persons who are operating them. I am speaking from my personal experiences over many years, so take them for what they are worth although my experience is from a neighboring county. The situation you have is multiple persons trying to operate a communications center who have no actual knowledge of how one should be operated. The jobs positions these 911 operators are being put in are going to put them in a position for failure, judging by the remarks I have read here. I would guess that these operators have not been adequitley trained for there role, nor do they have the support from there administrative staff. I have read where responders where sent to a wrong location, could be an innocent mistake, my guess is the person that is tasked with making that decision is not empowered to make those types of decisions. In other words there is a "script" to follow or else. Any way I could ramble for a long time, just take my advice, be as knowledgable as you can about the goings on in a consildated comm center, lots of political pull in different direction can cause a lot of heart ache along the way
You know Bedford County, I believe all you out there in scanner land need to find something better to do and let the Comm Center do there jobs. When you can honestly stand before God himself and say you have never made a mistake in your life time and have been perfect then you can pick on these individuals who dedicate there lives to saving yours. No one is perfect. I would challenge Bedford county citizens who have had a positive experince with the Comm Center/Law Enforcement/Fire/EMS services to post the positive comments. THere is so much negativity it is sickening. Step up to the plate and see that there is a good side of things too.
to newoutlook2008: no one is saying they are without making mistakes but the comm center are making mistakes that mess with peoples lives! If you were in a car accident and were trapped and the car was on fire how would you feel if the comm center dispatced help to the wrong place? That could cost you your life. You are right everyone does make mistakes but when the comm center makes the same type of mistakes over and over, it's going to cost the life of a bedford co. citizen or one of bedford co. Emergency Services. When you make a mistake you need to take responsiblity for it and find ways to fix it not cover it up or blame it on someone else. That's something children do not adults! I personally have a scanner and I listen to it a lot. I have family and friends and when I hear of something I always check to make sure they are ok. That's not what my life revolves around but I would like to know that the people who are the first step in me getting help are trained enough not to make a lot of mistakes especially the same ones over and over.
As the brother of Jason "Duck" Barber who currently resides on the East side of the state, I'm just an interested bystander - and not a Bedford County citizen or taxpayer.
I am however, intimately familiar with the circumstances surrounding his dismissal and my humble opinion is that situation was unwarranted and unfair; and I can totally understand Duck's indignation. One of the "reasons" given for his dismissal was that he used a "jump drive" (a tiny, USB portable disk drive) on the company computer which he used to work on "personal matters" during slow periods. Ironically, Duck's "personal matter" was constructing a map of Unionville in PowerPoint that contained better and more complete information than the crazy, expensive program the Com Center was using. It was intended to be an aid for Unionville's fire department. I know my brother's heart - and it was always to do the right thing for his community. ...and yet it led to his dismissal.
Another thing - there is a reason why the term "nepotism" (the act of favoring relatives because of their relationship rather than because of their abilitieshas) carries such negative connotations. Obviously, when one's employee is also one's daughter, one's ability to effectively manage is seriously impeded. In my opinion - and it's just my opinion - that seems to be a big part of the problems at the Com Center.
Lastly, I took LowerTaxesPlease's advise and simply did a Google search for "Crowell Road, Unionville, TN." An image of "James Crowell Road" and all of its immediate surroundings popped up within 1 second. Maybe the Com Center should just invest in purchasing Google's search engine. But wait, Google is free and doing something cheaply goes against all that is beauracratic and insane. That probably wouldn't work for Bedford County.
By the way, here is a link to my search results:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=na...
wow!! we made the news!! this has got somones attention. i have read this same story several times, i don't think anyone,including myself, noticed a statement that T-G reported Director Mathis said....
"Mathis said that there would not been any difference in response times regardless of the location." i think we all missed the key word here "RESPONSE". she is absolutly correct. judgiing by the times she produced, the location did not make a difference on RESPONSE. but what she failed to mention is, giving the wrong location could had very well dictated a delay in the "ARRIVAL" time of all the units. i commend her "attempt" at covering up what happened. i am just glad i caught it. i wonder what other hidden facts are here??
once again she had the perfect opportunity to thank VFSI for turning a potential devestating situtation, which her department aided in magnifying, into somewhat of a positive. meaning they were able to keep the house from being a total loss and protecting the neighbor's house. but there was nothing positive that came from her mouth toward VFSI. in fact she seemed very nervous!!
After being out of town for the holidays this story seemed to pass me by; until the News 2 coverage last night. Since I'm able to read all the comments and the article I think I can sum up this situation pretty well. Tell me what you think.
I believe this may have very well been an honest mistake. I can see where roads with similar names could cause problems. There is no doubt that a mistake was made, but this is not what troubles me. What troubles me, is there seems to be a pattern of mistakes that continue to happen. Jason"Duck"Barber states two other mistakes below in the same week and captain2222 states multiple problems since the dismissal of Barber. If this is true, I don't see any changes or anything getting any better. The reason I feel this way is by looking at the article and watching the news cast. At no point does Mathis really take full responsibility for the problem. She stated that it was just coincidence that these mistakes happened. I think not. What do we tell alcoholics who need help? The first step is admitting there is a problem. There is no admittance here, in fact just blame. Mathis did a terrible job of handling this situation. Just for example this is the statement I would have made had I been in her shoes.
Example:
We are truly sorry for the mistake that was made. We will continue to strive and do the best job possible in serving our communities and learn from our mistakes. It is our goal to provide the best service possible. I would like to thank VFSI and UVFD for their quick response and not allowing the situation to become worse than it could have been.
As I listen to the comments of Mathis and someonecares below, I am reminded by a line that Mel Brooks stated as he played the Governor in his movie "Blazing Saddles". He said "we must protect our phony-bologny jobs men!" This is what's happening here. I truly believe that being a comm. center dispatcher is a hard job. I don't think just anyone can do it. But I also think it can be done and done well. We as citizens should expect nothing less. Someonecares states that maybe people from Unionville should apply for a job. The fact is if the community people where placed in the same situation most of them would have asked enough questions to get the right road. They would have done so because they know the community and they know the roads and problems. I don't think you do. It just makes me wander if the computer system the comm center uses had to reboot or went down or power outage; would they have the knowledge to get the right people to the right place. Everyone knows that the wreck on Unionville-Deason road and Nashville dirt road is 2 miles from UVFD. If the computer did not say to page UVFD shouldn't the dispatcher have enough knowledge to do it themselves. This is only my opinion and maybe it should be yours.
Sorry that this is so long but on a closing note; newoutlook2008 brought up God and what we do when we stand before Him. James 4:17 states "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." In other words if we see something that is not right it is our own responsibility to help make it right. If a another mistake happens it will not be a dispatchers fault it will be the fault of all of us. Looking the other way is as bad as doing wrong all together. Many of you have voiced your opinions below, and for that I commend you and hope that it brings forth forgiveness and change.
After watching News 2, I really got to thinking. Director Mathis said that she "THINKS" they are double checking and checking again to make sure that we're doing the right thing." Should the Director THINK or should she KNOW what they are doing?????
Mathis said, "This is just a real freak accident that it happened three times within probably a two week period." I wonder if she would accept this wording from a DR. that was going to operate on her????? Remember, what the com center handles is life and death calls...
Mathis also said the 911 Communications Center is understaffed, many times working with only one dispatcher. But on this call there was at least 3 dispachers there. I heard at least two on the scanner. Now, she received a fully funded Budget, so where did all the money that was for dispachers go??? Let's study this for a minute. Who could check on this? Maybe the County Commissioners, no way since a lot of them serve on her board, if they found anything, it would make them look bad. Now, maybe the Sheriff Dept. could check on it, but hey, the Chief Deputy (Tony Barrett)serves on the com center board. Maybe someone could take it to the grand jury,but the leader of the grand jury (Linda Yockey) also serves on the center's board. Maybe we could ask assistance from the city police,nope that won't work - her husband is employed there -- so it appears it is left to the voters to remove all parties that have ignored what is happening.
As reported on News 2 (Last week, Bedford County Mayor Eugene Ray talked with Mathis and other department heads to address this miscommunication issue.) Now was this in any way out side of the sunshine law???? Why was this not in the T-G??? What was the out come of this meeting, this should have been reporter to the Taxpayers of Bedford County.
Something must be done, but it looks like everything is being hidden. Again, the only thing that was given to the reporters is what she wants to give them so things still do not come out into the open.
If you listen to the tape that was given to News 2, you will hear the caller say Crowell Rd. at Unionville. Virgil Crowell Rd would have been at Halls Mills, not Unionville.
Seems like the more we stir this the worse it gets.
I apologize for the length of this posting but it has been almost a year in coming. I was convicted by the quote from James 4:17. I have feared for my own well being instead of coming to the defense of a brother. I sat in that chair for just over 4 yrs and worked with my trainer, Duck, for more than 3. Training was ongoing for myself and Duck. We made a habit of critiquing each other on all aspects of our dispatching and others. This is a habit that needs to be practiced on a daily basis that can not happen in an atmosphere of constant fear of losing your livelihood for speaking up. As for Duck being the vindictive one, let me set you straight. Director Mathis fired Duck, has fought and defeated his repeated attempts at receiving unemployment benefits, a sitting Com Center board member, Roy Ferguson , is doing all he can to keep Duck from taking his proper and duly appointed position on the VFSI board, and Duck and myself were dismissed from our duties serving the community on Valentines Day. Now you tell me who is vindictive????? The public never heard a word from either of us until last fall when we were wrongly accused in this forum of writing most of the posting. We both posted rebuttals with our names attached and stopped the problem cold. This is when the pattern of placing the blame on others in stead accepting the blame where it belongs became public and not just a matter between Director Mathis and the various governing bodies with direct oversight.
I believe the public is missing the most glaring point that of these discussions. The com Center has a $60.000 mapping program with a $40.000 upgraded aerial view of the county. This map automatically comes up on a computer screen and pinpoints the location of a landline based call. Depending on the zoom setting the map shows exactly where on the particular street and the location in the county the call was made from. If the call is from a cell phone with the GPS function not disabled the mapping program can pinpoint the location of the caller to the same tolerances of any GPS unit. The system also has the capabilities to track the cell phone as it is moving down the road. This function worked as of the date of my dismissal Granted, a sophisticated piece of equipment such as this has it problems. But, if the system is down who is ultimately responsible for rectifying the problem. If the hierarchy at the Com Center is still the same as 11 months ago it is not Director Mathis but some subcommittee within the Com Center Board of Directors. Notice, as stated in other postings, it seems to never be any one person at fault it's either the vendor, the other agency, the caller, or as we all know it's Jason Barber.
Citizens of Bedford County now is the time to take action. These boards are appointments made by your district commissioner. The Com Center board meetings, as are all county court meetings, open to the public and posted in this paper.
It is your right to contact your commissioner and ask which board member represents your district and how to contact them personally to voice your concerns and demand answers.
It is your right to know how the E911 surcharge on every phone bill is spent. It is your right to question the ongoing training programs that have been in use up to this time, to insure your safety, not what will be done in the future. It is your right to know why the Com Center is under staffed with 50% more dispatchers working today as 2 years ago. It is your right to know the reason for the very large turn over at this agency. When there seems to be a problem with employee turn over the blame should fall squarely on upper level management either do the hiring or have appointed those that do.
The lessons learned from Metro Nashville and other agencies around the state show that these the problems can be fixed. These local agency directors that are still making the same mistakes as 20 years ago and believe business is still as usual with no questions asked are reaping the benefits of their ineptitude.
Yes I am a disgruntled ex-employee . I have got on with my life. But I can not sit by and watch this any longer.
Ed Paine
im tired of this, all of you that have no dispatch experience should really jus shut up, talk to your reps but stop doggging the ppl that may save your life one day..
all of you trying tp pick out very tiny things in waht ppl say and turn them around .. and if a dispatcher does something , they need to have something to back up what they do, not just their opinion, cuz if u do something other thatn what you are told or protocol.. then one of you idgits on here will bad mouth that too.. you find and make up anything u can , fix your selves and become perfect before you start trying to fix other ppls problems
thats whats wrong with america today, even the govt is trying to fix other countries when there's alot that needs to be done here first..
this is really sickening to see that a commuinty cannot back the ppl that serve them EVERYDAY!! we'll see how much u badmouth them when u actually need them one day and they save your life.. cuz ur all still gonna call 911 when there's an emergency and wont even think twice and who knows you may give the wrong info , but they will still find you.. its jus what they do and have to deal with everyday .. your negativity should not have to be on their shoulders either ..
Well someonecares unless your are a dispatcher this will be your last posting then??????
to someone cares...I might have to call 911 someday.If I do I just want to make sure the problems are already fixed.
Isn't that what we all want??
Nobody is after anybodys job.We just want corrections made before it is too late.
to someonecares
Does this mean only you, Jason and Ed should leave posts?
No everyone should post their views captain2222. Someonecares made the statement, "im tired of this, all of you that have no dispatch experience should really jus shut up" capt2222 would you ask another person to do something you would not do???
jus so u know, yes im done
someonecares should not get so upset.
Everything that I said came right out of what she said on live TV. You can't deny what came straight out of her mouth. The recording is still out there on News 2 for you to review if you have any questions. Maybe the other stations will pick up on this and keep this from fading away, like the com center would want it to do, but it will never die until it is fixed.
I also agree with leo about there should be random drug tests conducted by an independent source? This would be worth checking. Why has there been a high turnover at the Dispatch Center. I wonder why? This could influence the quality of service given to the citizens of Bedford County plus it takes a lot of taxpayers money to get new employees trained.
There should be a time clock there, so that employees don't get paid unless they are there and working. Someone should check the logs.
There should also be a record of where the company car goes, time, date, purpose of trip and who is driving it and names of any other people that are in it.
you know i was watching a presidental debate a while back. i got tired of the nonsense so i turned the t.v. off... i was listening to talk radio today and the they kept saying the same thing over and over, so i turned the radio off. one thing is true i bet, no matter if i turn the t.v. or the radio off, the discussion continued and the thousands of people kept on listening, because they wanted to base there decisions on what they heard
SO, Someonecares, there has been alot of comments posted concerning the mistakes of the 911 center. i just about bet these commentss DO NOT pop up on your screen unless you open it. so if you are so tired of reading these comments. THEN DON'T OPEN THEM. and if that is what you decide to do, i doubt very seriously you will be missed. the comments will keep comming and people will keep reading and gather the info to base their own opinion. i have heard from 2 former dispatchers on here, where are the responses from the currents dispatchers defending their own agemcy. now, somonecares, don't go crying to MAMA, you are entitled to your opinion, if you have facts to state, feel free to post them, i am personally curious on what you have to say
Thanks to those that expressed their approval of the News 2 story. I only wished they had gone more in depth. My main goal was to educate the public on what has been taking place across the county concerning our 911 center. I would like to make one thing clear, I did not call News 2, they called me and requested an interview. I was there as a representative of UVFD, while also taking the opportunity to speak as an ambassador of all that has expressed concerns, either to me personally, or via the T-G comment forum.
As for the story itself, I feel the reporter was misled by Director Mathis. In the report Director Mathis stated this was a "freak" accident that happened 3 times in nearly 2 weeks. FACT: it was 3 times in 7 days. She also told News 2 the Center is "understaffed". FACT: they have more dispatchers there than they have EVER had. Those are 2 misleading statements she made in that report
Now, to address the 911 call itself, the dispatcher that answered the 911 call was none other than the Senior Dispatcher and Certified Training Officer. The proper phone answering procedure, as of February 2007, was "Bedford County 911, Where is Your Emergency?". The "where" is the most important question, because no matter what the emergency is, if we don't know where you are, how can anyone come and help you? If you listen to the call, at no time did the Senior Dispatcher/Trainer ask "Where is Your Emergency?".. Now the huge problem here is, the Senior Dispatcher/Trainer that verified with the caller, the fire was on CROWELL RD, is the same Senior Dispatcher/Trainer that told responding fire personnel the fire is on Virgil Crowell Rd. Then she stated, she received a 2nd call verifying it will be on Virgil Crowell Rd. Why didn't they play that "2nd" call for the news media?? Why didn't they play the 911 call the originating dispatcher took?? It's odd how they just happen to use the call that the Senior Dispatcher/ Trainer took. Did she EVER get that so called 2nd call or not?? I suppose we will never know.
I want to thank News 2 for showing interest in this story. It may be the first of many yet to come.
To someone cares, I was a dispatcher for 7 years. So, if you find anything I said fictional, feel free to express yourself. I also was one of the trainers that attempted to train the, now Senior Dispatcher/ Trainer, unfortunately, due to the "higher ups", my attempt was futile.
If any one is interested, Jimmy Patterson, who is one of the county commissioners for the Unionville area and also, sits on the comm. center board of directors. His phone is listed in the phone book, but I will save you the trouble of looking it up, 931-294-5222
On a parting note, in reference to some earlier comments stating that some of us must not have anything else better to do but sit around and listen to the scanner. That is absolutely correct. You can thank Director Mathis and her Board of Directors for giving me that opportunity. I personally want to thank them. I definitely want to thank T-G for keeping this story active on their homepage. Apparently this story continues be view often.
For those who missed the News 2 story, here is the link directly to it: http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/911-d......
There is no room for "errors" or "mistakes" in an emergency situation. Did the Director's daughter get "written up" for these "mistakes"? . It seems(in my opinion of course) "other" former employees were dismissed for "far less reasons"...
Bedford County Board of Commissioners will meet 7 p.m. Tuesday, following a zoning public hearing, in the second floor courtroom at the county courthouse.
Bedford County Communications Center has come under some criticism related to its dispatch of firefighters to a house fire last month, and it's possible commissioners may ask about that during director Cathey Mathis' report.