To the Editor:
As a former dispatcher of the regional 911 dispatch center, this was one of our greatest concerns - that once the South Okanagan was swallowed up in the Kelowna Center, all the services we provided would disappear. You don’t know what you’ve had til it’s gone!
The daily radio checks were to ensure that the radio system was working properly. With the new system, no one knows there is a problem until it doesn’t work, and who knows how long it’s been down for.
What harm is it to spend 20 minutes twice a day to ensure everyone’s system is in working order? You certainly don’t want to be relying on iffy backup systems in the middle of an emergency. It’s not an excuse, to say your center is too busy - then hire more staff.
But then it would be hard to justify this move an economical, wouldn’t it? So, instead service suffers.
I really take exception to the excuse that the system is still going through a transition. Something as important as your 9-1-1 system should have had all these little kinks worked out before it was turned over to Kelowna. This is an emergency service, not a call center - and that’s about the amount of respect it’s been given. Your fire department members (who are taxpayers as well) are putting their lives on the line for their communities. The least you can expect is to have your frontline service working for you.
We may have had old equipment and dispatched without the aid of a computer, used paper and pencil - but we did a damn fine job. Do you really think technology is doing a better job than what we did?
I don’t think so.
Dawne Young, Penticton