The firefighters call her “Dispatch Debby.” She’s the automated voice they hear over the emergency alert system telling them they have a run to make and where they need to go.
Officially, the system is called PrimeAlert, and it recently went online at the Hancock County 911 Center and county fire stations. First-responders have been testing it the past couple of weeks, hoping that it works as promised: getting information out to first-responders more quickly and with more precision.
The system also allows for “zoned” dispatching, so that only those first-responders needed for a call receive the alert. That means other people in the fire station aren’t disturbed if the call comes in during the middle of the night. They can sleep right through it unless their unit is later summoned.