Lake County Dispatch receives upgrades
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: Lake County’s emergency dispatch center recently received numerous updates that make it ADA compliant.
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POLSON — Mark Clary, the director for Lake County’s Office of Emergency Management, couldn’t be more pleased with the recent improvements made to the County’s emergency dispatch center. He says “miles of old wire” were removed from the ceiling. Now each of the four workstations has its own climate and color ambient setting. The workstations can also be lowered for using a chair or raised if a dispatcher would like to stand. There is also a fifth workstation for the center’s supervisor and a training station. That’s not including an off-site backup dispatch center that is equipped with two workstations identical to all the others.
The entire dispatch center is now compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and there is more functionality to the workspace.
Dispatchers worked out of the off-site backup center for about two months while the new center was upgraded. Clary says the upgrades also included the first in the state Harris radio system that runs in analog or digital mode. He says when the switch to digital eventually happens, they will be ready. He says Ravalli County is the only other County in Montana to have the Harris radio system. Clary thanked the Lake County Board of Commissioners for recognizing the benefits of investing funds into the new dispatch center.
