The largest operation within the Department of Public Safety is the 911 Communications Center.  The communications center is the sole Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in Washington County and fields all landline and cellular 911 calls residing in Washington County or being processed by a cellular tower located within Washington County.

As previously stated, the 911 Center is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for all weekends and holidays. The center receives and dispatches calls for service for 35 Fire Departments, 9 of which are in the state of Vermont, 10 EMS agencies, 2 of which are in the state of Vermont, and 10 Law Enforcement agencies overall, including local dispatch functions for some of the state agencies we work closely with.  The center also processes and dispatches for the Department of Public Works (County, Towns, and Villages), Social Services, Public Health, and the county Sewer Agency.

The center is outfitted with 6 fully equipped, state of the art communications consoles, each are outfitted with the latest Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems, Radio Communications software, and 9-1-1 Telephony systems capable of completing the tasks assigned to 911 Communications Officers in today’s day and age. The center was recently upgraded and opened in our new location in July, 2014.

Our communications staff members are highly trained to handle a multitude of incidents, as well as trained in the use of the Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) systems, providing necessary and at times, life-saving, pre-arrival instructions to those experiencing medical emergencies. Our staff members all receive the New York State Basic Course for 911 Communications Officers following their assignment to the position, and undergo training throughout the year on various subjects and systems.

The staff is tasked with receiving, processing, and dispatching calls for all facets of public safety and public service, servicing the County of Washington with pride.

We are proud of our staff and the difficult job they do day to day, they are the “first” of the First Responders!