|
By ERIC FRAZIER
The Dispatch
As the new director of Davidson County 911 Communications, Terry Bailey will lead his department almost immediately through a building expansion and major equipment needs study. But he won’t need anyone to bring him up to speed. He;s been with the department since it was created.
Commissioners Chairman Fred C. Sink, who was then emergency management director, hired Bailey in 1987 as one of four county fire dispatchers. They worked at the Lexington Fire Department alongside city employees, who until then had dispatched county fire calls. Each dispatcher worked eight-hour shifts with one telephone and one radio.
“I’m extremely proud of him,” Sink said. “Terry has certainly paid his dues. He stayed with it, and he stayed with us.”
Bailey had been interim director since Lisa Marin left Sept. 17 to become 911 director in Stanly County. He had served as assistant director since December 1999 after being made shift supervisor in 1997.
While Bailey may have seemed the automatic choice, the county had 19 applicants, according to Human Resources Director, John Dean. Bailey was the only internal applicant interviewed among four “very qualified” individuals, Dean said.
“I think it’s always great when you can hire people within your organization,” Sink remarked.
A native of Thomasville, Bailey graduated from East Davidson High School and tool courses in electronics servicing and data processing at Davidson County Community College in 1982. He worked a couple of furniture manufacturing jobs but said he was always interested in technology. Friends often asked him for help with their computers.
“It seems to be where I am in my element,” Bailey said.
He got a CB radio license at 13 and still enjoys amateur radio today. He even bought the old tower when the Pilot Fire Department built a new station. Bailey began volunteering at the age of 15. As a firefighter, he eventually help every rank except chief.
Pilot Fire Chief Jack Jones told Bailey about the hire dispatcher openings in 1987.
“I said, ‘That sounds like me,’” Bailey recalled.
When Lexington built a new fire station, county dispatchers moved in with county ambulance dispatchers. That was the beginning of consolidation among county agencies, but technology was lacking. Ambulance movements were still tracked by moving color-coded piece on a magnetic board.
Emergency communications became a department under Sheriff Jim Johnson and moved into its own building in December 1991. However, the 911 equipment was not yet installed. The small staff used regular desktop telephones and kept records with pencils and paper.
Today, the staff includes the director, and assistant director, four shift supervisors, a database coordinator, a training officer, a sign technician, 22 telecommunicators and 10 part-timers. The 911 center dispatches calls for 49 different agencies. Early next year, the county will add 1,100 square feet to the original building.
Given his long tenure and cooperation with Lowder, Bailey has no major changes planned, although he concedes the march of technology makes change a constant in his business.
“Lisa left the center running smoothly,” he said. “I want to continue the smooth relationships with all of our agencies.”
Of the equipment study, Bailey said, “We’re looking for more reliability and less down time. It seems like we’re doing maintenance on one radio or another every week.”
Many agencies are moving to new “trunking” systems with computer processors that allow more users to share a smaller number of radio frequencies. Another coming technological challenge is the growth of the Internet to transmit telephone calls, which, like early cell phones, does not provide a way to identify the locations of calls.
Bailey said the 911 center recently acquired new software to track cell phones, which increasingly offer GPS locator devices. Also coming is “reverse 911” in which emergency officials can send prerecorded telephone messages to warn the public about emergencies.
Bailey said his top priority is to maintain full staffing. “These guys here are some of the most professional people you can imagine,” he said, but admitted the nature of the hob tends to produce burnout and turnover. “It’s been a very long time since I can remember being fully staffed for a length of time.”
Preparing workers takes six to nine months. All full-time employees must complete 47 hours of training to be certified N.C. Telecommunicators. Each also completes a 24-hour EMD course to attain the emergency medical dispatcher certification. A 32-hour DCI certification taught by the State Bureau of Investigation’s Division of Criminal Investigation trains dispatchers to perform criminal background checks and check license tag registrations. Full-time employees also learn CPR.
At home, Bailey keeps public safety radio scanners playing softly throughout the house, something Sharon, his wife of 15 years, has grown accustomed to hearing. But with so many calls coming in all day, Bailey said he does not like to answer the telephone at home. He leaves that job to his 14-year old son, Ryan, or 7-year-old daughter, Amber.
With 17 invested in the department, does Bailey see himself staying until retirement?
“I have no other aspirations,” he said. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d want to go. I’m in my home county, serving my home people, and I love what I do.”
Given that kind of commitment, Bailey appears likely to outlast several more generations of communications gear.
Eric Frazier can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 226, or at eric.frazier@the-dispatch.com |
