Assurances from first responders that they will better use a software program to track their activities have prompted Warren County leaders to reverse course on whether to spend nearly $20,000 a year on the program.
County supervisors had been asked last month to discontinue the contract by Warren County Sheriff Bud York, who said it was not working because many agencies had refused to use it. York questioned whether the agencies were not using it to conceal that they weren’t living up to manpower and response contracts with the municipalities they serve.
The software, called “I Am Responding,” allows the county’s emergency dispatchers to know what personnel and equipment rescue squads and fire departments have available for emergency calls on a real-time basis. That streamlines response, because it allows dispatchers to seek help from agencies that can respond, instead of having to make calls and summon mutual aid when departments can’t muster a crew.