• FIRE STATION ALERTING:  The Sioux City Fire Station alerting system was expanded to include the 185^th Fire Department with 911 funds in the amount of $38,447.00.  This automates their units being dispatched on calls.

• GIS MAPPING:  The State of Iowa requires each County in Iowa to have Next Generation 911 GIS accuracy of 98% or higher on all data layers along with an ALI synchronization to the GIS Road Centerline accuracy rate of 95% or higher, our County has continued to fulfill these requirements.

• GLOBAL PANDEMIC:  We implemented additional cleaning protocols, limited visitors in the dispatch center and did our best to limit our staff’s movement throughout the dispatch room to do our best to keep them healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.  We have worked with public safety partners and our Medical Director to ask additional screening questions so responders are aware and protected.  We have taken part in daily, then weekly, Emergency Operations Center briefings and then shared that information with our staff regarding the City and County’s response.  

• STAFFING:  We were able to add an additional full time Communications Operator that was approved for the FY2020 budget year.  This position was filled and is currently in training.

• CALEA:  Continue to make CALEA Accreditation and best practices part of daily operations so our agency is continually and systematically reviewing itself for continual improvement.  We were successful during our annual review in November of 2019.

• OPERATOR TRAINING:  Western Iowa Tech Community College has a scholarship fund that has funds available for dispatcher training.  We need to work with the college to identify and schedule training that both our staff and other dispatchers in the area would benefit from.  It is a great opportunity to host training at our center with reduced costs and no travel expenses for our staff.  It is also an opportunity for those to attend who do not choose to travel out of town overnight for other training  The State of Iowa 911 also has grant funds available for training; these funds are used quickly so we must be prepared to apply for some at the beginning of the fiscal year.  With the global pandemic all in person training was put on hold so we will continue to work on providing training the next budget year.

• Next Generation 911:  In August of 2019 the State of Iowa received federal grant dollars to upgrade the State’s 911 Network.  The initial project will move wireline 911 calls to the current wireless network.  Beyond that it will eventually roll out upgrades that will enable 911 answering points to accept video and picture messages.  We will work with the State of Iowa so that we continue to be on the leading edge of technology and able to offer these services to our community.

• CALEA Accreditation:  Continue to make CALEA Accreditation and best practices part of daily operations so our agency is continually and systematically reviewing itself for continual improvement.  We will have our on-site assessment in July of 2021.

• CAD/Records Management System:  A request for proposal was submitted and vendors have responded with proposals for a new CAD, Records Management, Jails & Fire reporting system.  All user agencies are involved in the process.  When the time comes to view products and make decisions, we will include dispatch staff in that process.

Woodbury County Communication Center improves 911 communications and emergency response through various funding projects.

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