Jennifer Griswold
The Oklahoman
Copyright 2007 The Oklahoman, All Rights Reserved
BLANCHARD, Okla. — Representatives of the county’s 911 trust have told Blanchard city leaders to get the 911 addressing in shape.
“It’s become a real problem,” said Richard Robinson, chairman of the McClain County 911 Trust Authority. Robinson said Blanchard’s list of addresses for emergency providers is a mess and hasn’t been properly kept up for two years.
He and McClain County 911 Coordinator David Brown addressed the Blanchard City Council last week, offering them solutions to help get the addresses updated as quickly as possible, including hiring an outside company to input the information, doing it in-house or paying the trust to do it.
The city is in charge of providing the trust with new addresses so a comprehensive map of the county can be distributed to all emergency service providers, Brown said. Blanchard is lagging behind in the process, and after multiple attempts to work with city staff, he had to make the council aware of it, he said.
City leaders said part of the problem is turnover in its 911 coordinator position, saying they’ve had four people in the position in the last few years. New hires haven’t stayed long enough to be trained on how to use the software, city officials said.
“This is the first time we’ve had to step in with a city,” Brown said. “Blanchard required our intervention.”
Brown, who is in charge of master maps and street lists for the county, said he has been asking the city for months for information he needs to update the resources.
McClain County has one of the most advanced 911 systems in the state, but “the system is only as good as the information that’s put in it,” he said.
This is a serious problem that could delay help in an emergency situation, Brown said.
Robinson, who also is a paramedic and director of the local emergency management service, said it’s frustrating to get a call and pull out the book to locate the address and the road isn’t on the map.