Page 123 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2018

LEFT: DISPATCHERS take calls.
BOTTOM: JACKSON COUNTY E 911 Deputy Director Tara Bendell talks with Director George Sholl.
to keep low drama to get needed information. It doesn’t do anyone any good if they’re upset too.”
Answer the dispatcher’s questions as best you can.
Remember, the first responders are alerted as soon as the dispatcher gets the address. “They’re on their way, but dispatchers continue to ask questions to get information the first responders need so they can better assist,” Sholl said.
When in doubt, call. “In general, if you’re not sure you should call 911, go ahead and call. We never tell people
not to dial 911,” Sholl said.
Sholl points out that dispatchers
know exactly where you are with emergency calls from a land line phone. Cell phone calls denote the vicinity and nearest cell tower. With 95 percent of emergency calls being made on cell phones these days, it’s doubly important that callers give dispatchers an accurate location. When he began working with this office in 2002, 90 percent of calls were on land lines and 10 percent from cell phones. Those percentages have now reversed.
That reversal in type of phones used is a challenge for maintaining and purchasing the system’s equipment. The county E 911 Service gets $1
from every land line bill and only 69 cents per cell phone bill. “The dollar is being collected on cell phone bills, but we don’t get as much of it. The cell carrier lobby in the state capital is more powerful than the emergency lobby,” Sholl said. “Our radio system is 20 years old and we don’t have
the funds to keep up with the next generation technology for cell phones that’s being rolled out in some states.”
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July 2018 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 123