Works jointly with Ocean City
PETERSBURG — Committeeman Mark Pancoast reported Oct. 24 that the Office of Emergency Management operations center in Township Hall is finally fully operational.
As part of an agreement with Ocean City, a Public Safety Answering Point recently was installed in the township facility. Pancoast said the technology provides an independent dispatch system for the township that is linked to the one at the Ocean City Police Department.
“It’s very technically advanced, cutting-edge. We’re one of seven municipalities in the entire state that have that; it’s an honor to have it here,” Pancoast said.
All calls for police, fire and EMS first responders from Upper Township are dispatched out of Ocean City. The PSAP would allow an operator at Township Hall to handle all local calls in the event that roads are impassable onto the island.
Reached by telephone later in the week, Pancoast expanded on his comments. He said Upper Township has an agreement for dispatch services with Ocean City but that the operations center is 15 miles away. Operators there handle all of the island’s emergency services as well as fire, EMS and State Police calls from the township.
He said part of the agreement required Ocean City to provide an off-site capable-ready center in the township.
Pancoast, a lieutenant with the Ocean City Police Department, said the state-of-the-art equipment allows the center at Township Hall to work independently or, when not staffed, linked to the OCPD 911 center.
“All we need is personnel,” Pancoast said, noting with the help of Capt. Steven Schaffer from the OCPD the dispatchers have been cross-trained to work in Upper in case of an emergency or inability to access the island.
He said the majority of the dispatchers live in the township anyway, so if there were a blizzard or hurricane, it would make more sense for one to work out of the mainland dispatch center rather than going to Ocean City.
“There is much more flexibility in having this type of system,” Pancoast said, noting either spot could be the main center.
However, there are four work stations in Ocean City and just one at Township Hall, meaning the operation could be run from the township but only temporarily.
Pancoast said the operations center provides a wealth of information to dispatchers, including radio communications, 911 dispatches, telephones and computers.
“The quality of service to the residents of Ocean City and Upper Township is incredible,” Pancoast said. “There is no down time.”
He said the current plan is for the OCPD to staff the township center once or twice a week.
Pancoast said part of the system is a remote deployable unit that can be taken on-site to act as an operations center for an event such as the Fall Festival. He said it would be able to handle communications from all emergency operators, public works and event management from one spot on location, lessening the burden on the dispatchers at the operations center.
“It really is a vast improvement,” said Deputy Mayor Jay Newman, chief of the Marmora Volunteer Fire Company.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff