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A new slate of officers, some with familiar faces, were elected during Tuesday morning's annual meeting of the Franklin County Joint Emergency Telephone System Board.
Re-elected chair Jeff Tharp and vice chair David Bartoni welcomed Wes Taylor as secretary. Taylor replaces Rob Barrett, who is no longer on the board. Richard Lenard was named assistant treasurer to replace Ken Hungate, who tendered his resignation from the board.
Newly appointed members Amy Spotanski-Tipton of Sesser and county board representative David Rea were welcomed into the fold.
During the regular meeting, director Rick Basso praised board members for their decision to offer certification training to county dispatchers.
"This was an excellent decision by the board," Basso said. "The PowerPhone Emergency Medical Dispatch training and the instructor John Brunelli were extremely well received. Ninety-five percent of the evaluation questions were answered with the most favorable response possible. Several of our dispatchers stated this was the best training they had ever had."
Basso said 21 of the 32 students answered all evaluation questions by giving the highest response, or "strongly agree" possible.
"The response of ‘strongly agree’ is the most positive response a student can give on the 13 evaluation questions," he said. "‘Strongly disagree’ is the most negative response."
Student responses remained anonymous, Basso said as he distributed copies of the 53 comments received.
"The class was the best class I've ever taken," one student wrote. "The instructor was very detailed and was great for keeping the class's attention."
Another student indicated, "I truly thought that this was going to be long and boring. The instructor made it worth my time to be here and made it real."
A third student wrote, "The instructor did a great job, easy to stay tuned in. Knows this job extremely well. The instructor shows a great pride in teaching others to do this job that he has mastered."
Basso said dispatchers from four county agencies participated in the two-three day training sessions. He said the 911 office is responsible for providing the training but agencies are responsible for paying for expenses. Basso said the board approved partial wage reimbursement to the agencies, given the current financial situation of the county.
High praise for the meeting facility at Rend Lake Golf Course was also expressed. Basso said the food was excellent and Gibby's on the Green staff was very professional.
A new slate of officers, some with familiar faces, were elected during Tuesday morning's annual meeting of the Franklin County Joint Emergency Telephone System Board.
Re-elected chair Jeff Tharp and vice chair David Bartoni welcomed Wes Taylor as secretary. Taylor replaces Rob Barrett, who is no longer on the board. Richard Lenard was named assistant treasurer to replace Ken Hungate, who tendered his resignation from the board.
Newly appointed members Amy Spotanski-Tipton of Sesser and county board representative David Rea were welcomed into the fold.
During the regular meeting, director Rick Basso praised board members for their decision to offer certification training to county dispatchers.
"This was an excellent decision by the board," Basso said. "The PowerPhone Emergency Medical Dispatch training and the instructor John Brunelli were extremely well received. Ninety-five percent of the evaluation questions were answered with the most favorable response possible. Several of our dispatchers stated this was the best training they had ever had."
Basso said 21 of the 32 students answered all evaluation questions by giving the highest response, or "strongly agree" possible.
"The response of ‘strongly agree’ is the most positive response a student can give on the 13 evaluation questions," he said. "‘Strongly disagree’ is the most negative response."
Student responses remained anonymous, Basso said as he distributed copies of the 53 comments received.
"The class was the best class I've ever taken," one student wrote. "The instructor was very detailed and was great for keeping the class's attention."
Another student indicated, "I truly thought that this was going to be long and boring. The instructor made it worth my time to be here and made it real."
A third student wrote, "The instructor did a great job, easy to stay tuned in. Knows this job extremely well. The instructor shows a great pride in teaching others to do this job that he has mastered."
Basso said dispatchers from four county agencies participated in the two-three day training sessions. He said the 911 office is responsible for providing the training but agencies are responsible for paying for expenses. Basso said the board approved partial wage reimbursement to the agencies, given the current financial situation of the county.
High praise for the meeting facility at Rend Lake Golf Course was also expressed. Basso said the food was excellent and Gibby's on the Green staff was very professional.
"The dispatchers had their own classroom, a buffet, and the cost was very reasonable for the six-day training session," he said.
Basso said the $1,200 price tag included the cost of the room, daily set-up and food.
He is following up on suggestions made by dispatchers, including obtaining the cost of a language line in the event that a 911 caller cannot speak English. Basso said dispatchers also suggested setting up an advisory council comprised of dispatchers to discuss issues and concerns pertaining to the three PSAP locations.
Franklin County Emergency Management Agency director Ryan M. Buckingham also touted the EMD training.
"There was very good cooperation and collaborative talking between the PSAPs," Buckingham said. "I think this will solve a lot of day to day issues and problems."
Melanie Turner, a dispatcher with West Franklin County Central Dispatch located in Christopher, attended the 911 Board meeting and also commented on the training.
"I have been a dispatcher for 14 years," she said. "This is the best training I have ever had."
Basso said the office had received card sets for each PSAP location to refer to until the software is installed He said question prompts would pop up on the computer monitor for dispatchers to ask after the new software is installed. Recertification for dispatchers is required every two years, he said.
In other matters, members approved the purchase of a two-wheel drive truck for road name signs. Basso said Mike Carpenter had been using his own vehicle prior to the board-approved purchase. The purchase of the $18,105 truck from Weeks Chevrolet-Pontiac in West Frankfort was granted. Up to $1,500 for four-corner strobe lights and a toolbox was also approved.
Members approved the purchase of a new copy machine totaling $5,521 from Executive Business Products. Basso said he followed the lead of the county board to buy the copy machine.
He reported that the 911 Board remains financially sound.
"Even after the vehicle and copier purchases, we still have a little over $100,000 available in our savings that is not currently assigned to a board-approved project," Basso said.
"Our projected trend on monthly income and expense continues. We receive approximately $36,000 per month and spend approximately $26,000 per month which creates savings for our reserves of $10,000 per month."
