West Fargo Fire Chief Dan Fuller
WEST FARGO, N.D. (KFGO/KVRR) – The West Fargo Fire Department has a new automated dispatching system that is helping firefighters to respond to calls faster.
“The lights come on when the call goes out. There’s reader boards that tell us what the address is instead of having to try and listen to the audio,” West Fargo Fire Chief Dan Fuller said.
Fuller said it is a much easier process with a calmer tone. It also removes possible confusion and emotion from the dispatcher telling crews where to go.
“[Crews] can’t hear it if it’s scratchy, if the radio reception is bad. If they’re in a part of the building that has an echo or something, a lot of times they’ll have to go either look at their pager or go look at the computer screen in the dispatch room to figure out what’s going on before they get into the truck. So, it’s cutting all that out,” Fuller said.
Dispatchers used to have to get information from a caller, put them on hold, and tell firefighters on the radio where they need to go. Now, all they have to share is the address.
“The dispatcher types in what the call is and it automatically populates with what the recommended units to send are. They hit the button to send it, and our automated dispatch system does the rest,” Fuller said.
The internet-based system cost $200,000 and was part of the fire department’s 2022 budget.
Fuller said Fargo and Moorhead fire departments have been asking about the new technology.
“We’re happy to share our knowledge and information with them to help them get on board and have a nice, unified thing across the metro that everyone’s done in the same way,” Fuller said.
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