THE INGRAINED PROBLEMS OF THE FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA, emergency dispatch center have led to the first defection from their coverage area.
The city of Milton in the north side of Fulton County announced Saturday that beginning October 1 they will have their fire, police and ambulance dispatching handled through the Alpharetta 911 Center.
[photopress:milton_truck.jpg,full,centered]
Disclosing that they have been planning this since December, Milton public safety director Chris Lagerbloom said that they signed the agreement earlier this month before the recent debacle at Fulton 911 (STATter911 report HERE) where an incompetent dispatcher sent an ambulance to the wrong address 35 miles away from a woman needing assistance. She later died.
“Some of the catastrophic failures we’ve seen further solidify that we’ve made the right choice,” Lagerbloom said. He also pointed out that the Alpharetta center has GPS technology working already that locates and dispatches the nearest units on all calls. Additionally, the cost to Milton will be $100,000 annually less than they are paying now.
Milton and Alpharetta have also implemented a mutal-aid pact where the nearest units of any emergency, regardless of jurisdiction, will be dispatched. Milton’s ambulance service is provided by the private firm Rural/Metro.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the complete STORY.
Atlanta’s largest EMS provider, Grady Hospital, has already removed all of their dispatching from Fulton. This AP video report covers the situation:
Recent Comments