Town Hires An Emergency Communications Director

By Andrew Gorosko

The town has hired a Wolcott man as its first director of emergency communication, a position in which he will oversee the Newtown’s fusion of radio dispatching duties for the police, fire, and ambulance services.

Joseph A. DelBuono, 47, began work in the $45,000/year post Monday. Mr DelBuono had been serving as a voluntary adviser to the town on dispatching issues since July.

 Before starting work in Newtown, Mr DelBuono worked for the Waterbury Fire Department for 24 years, 18 years of which were in a supervisory capacity, involving the management of staff, equipment and facilities. He worked for 10 years as the supervisor of the Waterbury Fire Department’s 911 communications center, handling fire and emergency medical service calls.

Mr DelBuono recently retired from the 330-member Waterbury Fire Department as one of its four deputy fire chiefs.

Mr DelBuono will manage all public safety-related radio dispatching for police, fire, and ambulance services in town in a modern combined dispatch center, which is under construction in the police station.

Currently, dispatching for the town’s five volunteer fire companies and for the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps is done from a dispatch center in the basement of Edmond Town Hall at 45 Main Street. Police dispatching is now done about one-half mile to the south within the police station on the upper level of Town Hall South at 3 Main Street.

When the new combined dispatch center is in operation, two dispatchers will staff it around the clock. The combined dispatch center is intended to centralize and modernize town radio dispatching to streamline emergency services operations.

The town has created a Communications Operations Board, which will oversee the combined dispatch center. The panel, whose chairman is civilian Lois Pratt, has two representatives each from the police, fire, and ambulance services. Mr DelBuono will work with that board and with the first selectman in setting standards for dispatcher selection, training, and supervision. Mr DelBuono will work under the general supervision of the first selectman and follow performance standards established by the board.

The town will be well served by a combined dispatch center, said First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal. Creating such a local facility has been in the discussion stages for years.

A combined dispatch center will serve the public better than two separate facilities, Mr Rosenthal said, adding that dispatchers eventually will be trained to provide callers with information on how they can physically help people before an ambulance arrives, under a system known as “emergency medical dispatching.”

 

Decision Making

Mr DelBuono noted that dispatchers make important decisions rapidly when emergency help is needed, and being able to provide medical advice to callers who are facing emergencies can be crucial. He recalled cases in Waterbury in which dispatchers provided information to callers on how to deliver a baby and how to prevent the death of someone who is choking.

As the head of a new town department, Mr DelBuono will evaluate the performance of dispatchers, Mr Rosenthal said. The town has nine full-time and five part-time dispatchers who ork 12-hour shifts.

Mr DelBuono said he hopes the dispatchers are in their new facility by December 1. Opening the new center will include a period of equipment testing, he said. Dispatchers will then be cross-trained to provide them with a knowledge of police, fire, and ambulance dispatching techniques.

Dispatching is difficult work that provides a vital service, but which poses many stresses on dispatchers, Mr DelBuono said. Dispatchers must effectively deal with callers who are under stress to accomplish their jobs.

“I have found all [town] dispatchers to be very competent, very professional. It w­ill work out the way it’s planned,” he said of combining all dispatching functions in one place.

“I come here with no preconceived notions. I come here with an open mind,” Mr DelBuono said.

“I’m here to make it work. It’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to be hair-raising,” he said of fusing the three dispatching functions into one function. Mr DelBuono said he was present for the unification of the three dispatching functions in Waterbury.

Of his goals for the coming year, Mr DelBuono would like to successfully combine all three dispatching functions; heighten the sense of teamwork among dispatchers; and work toward emergency medical dispatching certifications for town dispatchers.