Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 129, Number 27, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 6 July 2006 — Page 6
Page 6
Advance News • Thursday, July 6, 2006
Center works to provide emergency services
By Anthony Godson Editor If you think your job is pres-sure-packed, imagine being the person who receives 9-1-1 phone calls. Last September, Elkhart County's 9-1-1 Center moved from the county jail into a 10,000-square foot facility off C.R. 17. The facility sits behind a closed fence, and gives the staff inside much more comfort than its previous location. "This (facility) is three times the size of 1 * our last cehter," Director, and Nappanee resident, Egbert Dijkstra said. "We used to have seven counsels, and we were cramped. Now we have 10, and are more spread out." Inside the counsel room, the 10 stations stand, with two operators working the lines at each counsel. To illustrate the hectic workday, the center was sending out five ambulances at around 10:30 a.m. on a Thursday morning. "At times, it's not very busy, but at times, it really is," Dijkstra said. And when it's busy, how do the operators avoid keeping an urgent call waiting? "You learn to prioritize," the director said. "The operators try to determine what the most
Events at Public Libraries »' k- - : *; - • Nappanee EMBRACE THE PACE Slow down and celebrate the city's new slogan with a visit to the Nappanee Public Library on Saturday, July 15. Meet Mark Butterfield, author of "Hoosier Painters of the 21st Century," from 1 to 4 p.m. Butterfield will sign copies of his book during that time. Copies of the book will be available with a portion of proceeds benefiting the library. The volume covers 60 of the most notable traditional oil painters in Indiana, including Nappanee's own, Susie Russell, who will also be on hand to exhibit some of her work. Bring the kids along and enjoy a special story and craft time from 3 to 4 p.m. Honey Walters, a Woodview Elementary kindergarten teacher, will share the leisurely tale of "Old Turtle." For more information, call 773-7919, or go to www.nappanee.lilsiflf.uS. BOOK CLUB Read along with the "Cover to Cover Book Club" at the Nappanee Public Library! The club will meet on Sunday, July 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. to discuss their next title: "The Dante Club" by Matthew Pearl. Members of an elite group of 19th century New England literati, including Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Jam/s Russell Lowell, find themselves lured onto the mysterious and terrifying trail of a Bostonian serial killer in this novel based on an actual club
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urgent calls are. So if there's a call about a theft that occurred three days ago, and we're very busy, that call may be put on hold." On average, the center receives between 1,200 and 1,500 calls a day, with between 260 and 400 of those calls requiring dispatch. That number of calls seems high, but that's just the number of calls that comes to one of the three 9-1-1 centers in the county. "Nappanee has its own and so does the City of Elkhart," Dijkstra said. "We do all the rest (of the county)." Along with "the rest," the center also fields every 9-1-1 call that comes from cell phones. "We take all cell calls, and that's majority of the 9-1-1 calls," Dijkstra said. "On average, 67 percent of calls come from cell phones." With the recent increase in cell phone use, the center now receives many more calls. As long as your cell phone provider uses the technology to utilize 9-1-1 calls, you can call 9-1-1 from your phone. But not all providers use the technology. "The phones complete with the technology helps us here," Dijkstra said. And if your phone allows you to, the call from your phone
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may help to dispatch emergency services quickly. "We dispatch 35 agencies, such as police, fire, EMS and others, such as county highway," Dijkstra said. "The largest agency is the police department, which we work with Goshen, Bristol, Millersburg, Wakarusa and Milford. We also dispatch DNR Conservation Officers." In the event that a cell phone call comes from Nappanee, the center then contacts the Nappanee office, getting officers or emergency agencies on the road. "We take the information, and let Nappanee know," Dijkstra said. "In the county, for every call, we also tell the sheriff's department." To ensure that the calls are received, four operators are always at their stations, along with a supervisor on duty. "The operators work five days, and have two days off," Dijkstra said. "In the event that someone must call in sick, then someone will have to stay over, arid the next operator may have to come in early." The schedules are made up to six months in advance, and if the weather gets bad, extended hours may be instituted, considering that when the weather gets worse, the calls increase.
who met to translate Dante's Inferno for their contemporaries. "Pearl, a recognized Dante scholar, uses his expertise to create an absorbing and dramatic period piece," says Library Journal. "Using historical figures in a mystery setting is not a new idea . . . but Pearl has proven himself a master." Participants of the group are encouraged to call the library at 7737919 to reserve their copy of the book. Reader's guides and a list of selections for the remainder of the year are also available at the Adult Services Desk. For more information, call the number above, or go to www.nappanee.lib.in.us. QUILTING GUILD "The Artful Quilters," a guild for those interested in new quilting techniques, meets on the second Thursday of each month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Nappanee Public Library. The next meeting will be held July 13. Membership for the "Artful Quilters" is open to anyone. Join the fun and fellowship with other quilters while keeping up to date with new activities and techniques in the quoting world. Bring your own projects to share, check out planned programs for the coming year, and sign up for trips. Yearly dues are sls and are used for the benefit of the guild. Those interested may attend two meetings to get acquainted before becoming members. For more information, contact Londa Harwell (773-7650), Marka Harwell-Bentley (773-5774), Connie Kauffman (773-7089), or the Nappanee Public Library at 773-7919, or go to www.nappanee.lib.in.us. Wakarusa STORY HOUR The last of this summer's Story Hour programs will be held on
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ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/A.W. GADSON Evelyn Schollian is one of the two 9-1-1 operators working at this counsel at the 9-1-1 Center in Goshen.
"We have showers here, because in case of a big snowstorm, we may have to stay a while," Dijkstra said. "The hours could range between 12 to 24 hours. It could happen, but the workers don't usually go over 12 hours." And in the event of a snow storm of that caliber, Dijkstra is very confident in the fact that services wilf never go down at the center, considering it has an uninterrupted power source. "We can run 24 hours on battery power, and we have our
own generator," he said. The area has already lost power once, but no one in the center would have known. "When power was lost a week or two ago during a storm, we didn't even know it," the director said. "We'll run ourselves forever. We are self-contained." The center is not only equipped with energy to power itself, but is also state-of-the-art technology-wise. As soon as a call comes in, it appears on the operators monitor. Criminal histories can be reviewed at the
JulylO and July 11 at 10:15 a.m. SUNSHINE CLUB The Sunshine Club will meet at Miller's Merry Manor ir Wakarusa on July 11 at 1:45 p.m. Children will read a book to the residents. FUN @ THE FAIR "Soak Up the Fun @ the Fair" will be held on July 12 at 1:45 p.m. Students in grades kindergarten to fifth, who register, will hear ?. story and make a pinwheel. YOUNG ADULT AUCTION The Young Adult auction will be held on July 14 at 1 p.m. Thie will be a time to get prizes for the library money that each Young Adult reading participant has saved. IN MEMORY • "sth Horseman" by James Patterson is given in memory of Zuleka Anderson by her daughter, Joy Anderson. • The following books have been given in memory of Man Margaret Fetsch: "Bones and the Dinosaur Mystery" by David Adler is given by the Everett Eby Family and Treva Martin. "Building a Life of Value: Timeless Wisdom to Inspire and Empower Us" by Jason A. Merchey is given by the Everett Eby Family. DIAL A STORY Dial A Story is "Tom Tit Tot." This story is shades ot Rumpelstiltskin and a memorable tale. Hear this story at 862-4441 NEW LARGE PRINT BOOKS "Unmasked" by Virginia Henley "Pelican Bay" by Charlotte Douglas "Pelican Coast" by Alan LeMay "Guns Along the Jicarilla" by Ray Hogan "Blood on the Range" by Eli Colter
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drop of a hat, and cell phone calls can be pinpointed to with in 50 yards of the call using Global Positioning System. However, when Dijkstra begar the job 20 years ago, it was a bn different. "We used to receive calls then write them down and pi:: them into a time clock," he said "Then at the end of the shift we'd put them into a log." Well, the log still exists, but with ,new and improved technology, we can all feel a bit safer.
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