Software glitches delay 911 response in Northwest suburbs
Glitches with a new software program used by Northwest Central Dispatch System for routing emergency calls to fire and police departments caused a 14 minute delay Sunday in the response to a potential heart attack victim in Palatine, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Palatine Fire Chief Scott Andersen said firefighters heard the 911 call on their portable radios, but they never got dispatched. It wasn’t until the on-duty battalion chief called Northwest Central Dispatch that information about the emergency was relayed.
“We didn’t know that the call was actually tied up at dispatch for quite some time prior to us hearing that on the radio,” Andersen said.
The call turned out not to be life threatening and the patient is now stable at an area hospital. Still, 14 minutes is too long of a response time, Andersen said.
Typically, the department responds to emergency calls in under 6 minutes about 95 percent of the time anywhere in the village. That’s from the time the 911 call comes in, Andersen said.
“Absolutely, it’s a concern,” Andersen said. “And, it’s a concern for Northwest Central as well.”
Northwest Central Dispatch installed the new computer-aided dispatch system on April 24.
Agency Executive Director Cindy Barbera-Brelle said Sunday was the first time there have been delays in responses to emergency calls since the new software went live.
“For whatever reason, as we were entering calls for services, the system was not delivering them to the dispatch position so the call could be dispatched,” she said. “It had not been something that was systemic up to that point. We rely on our departments to let us know if they think there is an issue and then we investigate accordingly.”
Dispatchers use the software to transfer information from 911 calls into the computer, and send the data to 21 police and fire departments within 11 member communities.
Since it was implemented, area police and fire departments have reported problems for which the software developer has issued fixes, Barbera-Brelle said, adding that none of those problems was as serious as last weekend’s.
Dispatchers usually get either an audible or visual indication that a call is coming through, which didn’t happen Sunday creating a backlog of calls sitting in queue, she added.
Once the problem was discovered, software developer ID Networks was notified and by midafternoon Monday a fix was installed, she said.
“We have not had any issues since,” Barbera-Brelle said. “Plan is to deploy another fix tomorrow morning.”
Dispatchers and police officers have expressed frustration over the new system for some time but Sunday was particularly chaotic, said Rick Tracy, an executive board member of the Metropolitan Alliance of Police, the union for Northwest Central dispatchers.
“I’ve been getting complaints since the system went into effect,” he said. “The calls are not getting through the system. They are getting lost. The computer screen in front of the dispatchers is supposed to update itself, and the calls aren’t popping up on the screen.”
Tracy said members also have complained about stress levels at their job increasing tremendously.
“It’s not working very well,” he said.
Ken Fritz, a member of the Northwest Central Dispatch board which approved purchase of the software, said the board hasn’t yet been presented with any issues that need to be resolved.
“Like any software, when you implement it, there are some bugs to work out,” he said. “If there was a policy issue or even an operational issue, if it was something that is impacting the communities or major service issues, then the board would get involved. Right now, it’s more of a nuisance.”