Emergency Services by Joey Stocking (Dispatch/Jail)

 “911, what is the address of your emergency?”

Today, I'll tell you a little about the Rich County Dispatch Center and Jail, but first a little PSA. 

If you have an iphone and you put it in a cup holder, and the volume up and power button gets squeezed together, your phone will call 911. While I think Apple had good intentions, in reality it made it too easy to call 911 and therefore dispatch ends up with a bunch of "911 pocket dials" that tie up resources from real calls.

In Rich County the 911 dispatch center is located in the basement of the County Courthouse building in Randolph. This is also the location of the sheriff’s office and the Rich County Jail. Currently the county has 7 dispatchers, some are full-time and some part-time (but it is also currently hiring - application available here!) 

The local numbers for non-emergency calls to dispatch include 435-793-1011 and 435-793-2285. If you live in or visit Rich County often, I'd recommend saving those in your phone.

There are two dispatcher consoles. Each console has 3 computer monitors, phones, and a radio. The computer monitors show radio information, paging lists (for paging EMS, Fire, SAR), a CAD System (Computer Aided Dispatch) screen which helps log information and dispatch calls to resources, Medical dispatching scripts/protocols, and the 911 phone system information such as the location of callers.

Not only do these dispatchers handle all fire, medical, search & rescue, and law enforcement emergency and non-emergency calls, but they also are the corrections officers for the county jail. This means serving inmates meals, arranging recreation time, booking and releasing, and monitoring inmate activities. As far as Utah goes this is a fairly unique situation to have employees setup to do both dispatch and jail.

Because these employees handle both roles they undergo extra training. Each individual attends a 3-4 month intensive course at POST (Peace Officer Standards & Training) to become certified as “Special Functions Officers” and “Correctional Officers.” They must pass physical fitness tests, defensive tactics tests, and written exams. Then they must also go on to become “Public Safety Dispatcher” certified and “Emergency Medical Dispatcher” certified as well.

Under the direction of the Sheriff, there is a Jail Commander who also serves as the head dispatcher and coordinates the scheduling of employees and also helps provide training to help each employee maintain his/her certifications.

Obviously the dispatch center and the jail must be staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. That means working graveyard shifts and holidays. 

The job can be intense, but rewarding. The dispatchers never know when a life-threatening emergency is going to come in. They must sit in a constant state of readiness and are unable to truly relax while working. They help people on their worst days, often without knowing the outcome of the situations. They just get the call that someone needs help and dispatch someone to go help, and then get ready for the next call to come in.

In the Rich County Dispatch Center this saying adorns the wall and it is true:

Garden City Fire District board meeting

 Garden City Fire District Board meeting, 

March 2nd, 2022Leonard O’Reilly, Reporter

Rich Civic Times                             

Chairman Randall Knight was away, Michael Lasswell substituted, all other board members were in attendance.

Upstairs countertops have been installed and the water heaters are soon to be installed.

There is some drywall and painting yet to be done.

Chief Whalberg discussed the new P25 mobile phone systems due by the end of March facilitating communication with the rest of the county.

 

The responses for the month were:

1  - Structure Fire

2  - Fire Alarms

1  - Carbon Monoxide Call

3  - Medical Calls

2 -  Business Inspections

6  - Short Term Rental Inspections 

Is winter finished? by Jennifer Casillas

 

State of the Lake

 

GARDEN CITY — Fisheries staff from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) will collaborate and share updates on the Bear Lake fishery and work plans for 2022 at an upcoming “State of the Lake” public meeting.

Emily Wright shows a lake trout caught and released at Bear Lake with a gillnet in 2019.

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 31, at the Garden City Convention Center’s Lakeside Room. The meeting starts at 6 p.m.

The Garden City Complex is located at 69 N. Parkway in Garden City, just as you come into town.

Scott Tolentino, a fisheries biologist stationed at Bear Lake, said they haven’t held a meeting like this for 10 years. He is a 30-year veteran of DWR.

“Idaho holds a lot more meetings like this than Utah does,” he said. “We thought both agencies could talk about their proposed studies and what they will be doing in the future. It could eliminate a lot of disinformation and the people at the meeting will get it strait from the horse’s mouth.”

Anglers and other community members interested in the status of the Bear Lake fishery are encouraged to attend. Biologists from both agencies will share the latest population trends and ongoing management work related to the wide array of fish found in the lake.

“We will give a formal power point presentation on how the different fish populations are doing,” Tolentino said. “We will go over how the different fish populations are doing. We want it to be an open atmosphere followed by a question-and-answer session between biologists and the public.”

The agencies plan to talk about populations of the Bear Lake cutthroat trout, lake trout, Bonneville cisco, Bonneville white fish, Bear Lake whitefish, Bear Lake sculpin and even carp.

“We are going to make the presentations so the average joe can understand what we are saying,” he said. “We are not going to try to baffle anyone with confusing information.”

Bear Lake is the home of 13 different species of fish, four of which are found nowhere else in the world.

The agencies hope everyone will leave with a better understanding of what the Bear Lake fish populations are currently and the work the agencies are doing to help the fish in the lake.

For more information, contact the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Southeast Region Office at 208-232-4703 or the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Northern Region Office at 801-476-2740.

 

Craft Fairs-Garden City April 9th & Montpelier April 16th

 

Little Bear Lake Monster Pre-School

 

Help Wanted

 IF you are looking for work at Bear Lake go to the "Help Wanted Bear Lake" Facebook page. There are sooo many jobs available. Happy hunting.