Glitches Cleared Up, Says Allegheny County Emergency Services Chief

After reports of mishaps that caused paramedics to be incorrectly dispatched, Allegheny County says they have worked out most of the glitches in their recently upgraded 911 Call Center.

Bob Full, Emergency Services Chief for the county said at a press conference on Monday that the main problem was that only about 70 percent of the common names for streets and intersections were transferred over to the new computerized mapping system. Locations where incidents might occur that did not have addresses had to have addresses created for them or transferred over from the old system making it easier for dispatchers to immediately leave for and arrive at a location.

The system was upgraded on Sunday, August 8th. Full said they chose to switch over then because August is a slower month.

The new system has been years in the making. Full said it is an improvement over the old system and utilizes employee effectiveness. The system cost 10 million dollars.

The call center gets about 4,500 calls a day.

The county has been conducting tests on an hourly basis and will continue to do so.