Posted by David Juaraqui

 

E-911

Emergency-911 is a very important tool that is used by our government agencies, telephone, and power companies. The most important in my opinion would be public safety such as first responders and our local police and sheriffs department, in order to provide accurate directions and fast response times to crimes or accidents occurring in our county. Having an effective Emergency-911 addressing system in Grant County is very important because we have a wide range of rural areas becoming populated. Recently the issue of Grant County’s Emergency-911 rural addressing was brought to the attention of the Grant County commission and county manager.

This was not the first time that this issue has been discussed. This time certain county employees voiced there opinion on the serious matters concerning this issue. The question was asked, how accurate is Grant County’s Emergency 9-11? The answer given was, ninety-six percent accurate. I strongly disagree with this answer. There have already been many incidents in which Grant County’s Emergency-911 has not been effective. Incidents in which officers and ambulances have gone to the incorrect home due to the lack of information or incorrect information provided by the county. There are certain areas that have not been addressed correctly and need to be corrected. Currently there are two hundred and ninety-four errors in Grant County’s Emergency-911 addressing system. This is very dangerous because people’s lives are at stake. If someone’s life is lost because the ambulance is circling around the block unable to find the address or someone is hurt because the police can’t find the correct house, the county could be looking at a huge lawsuit.

The county commission and county manager continue to inconvenience the
public and ignore the seriousness of this issue. In the past two years there have been five
different employees that have worked as the rural addresser. The county commission and county manager have not yet provided these employees with the correct equipment to do the job correctly. There has also been no assistance to fund this program properly. Recently the county commission gave the position of Emergency-911 rural addressing to the Grant County Road Department. This I believe was a great inconvenience to individuals trying to obtain an address. They first had to go to the road department, fill out the proper paperwork, and then drive across town to the Grant County Administrative Complex to pay the fee for their address, drive back across town to the road department, and show their receipt in order to obtain their address.

This is a very important issue that our community and our county are facing. We all have family members that are elderly or ill and would hate to see something happen to them because the lack of attention that our county commission and county manager has given to this important issue. I believe that we as a community and a county need to voice our opinions and concerns to the commissioners in our districts or at the Grant County Admimstrative complex in order to get this corrected as soon as possible.

 

 

 

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