POLICE DEPARTMENT
Communications
Bryan Gums, Chief of Police
307 Third Avenue / PO Box 270
Brookings, SD 57006
605-692-2113 Phone
605-697-8351 Fax
bgums@brookingsleo.com
MISSION
The Communications Division of the Brookings Police Department is charged
with the responsibility of providing the vital link between emergency
services and the citizens we serve.
Created by a joint-powers agreement between the City and County in
1999, the Brookings area consolidated communications division was created.
Based in the Brookings Police Department and comprised of a staff of
six full-time communications technicians, the communications division
provides dispatching and call taking services for all of Brookings County
Emergency Service agencies including the Brookings County Sheriff, Brookings
Police Department, Brookings Fire Department and Brookings County Ambulance,
as well as locally assigned South Dakota Highway Patrol personnel.
Communications personnel are responsible for receiving emergency and
non-emergency calls for services, accessing the needs of the callers,
and directing the proper resources to address needed services. Calls
are received through regular telephone lines, as well as through our
enhanced 911 system.
PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
Enhanced 911 and Call Mapping
Certified communications personnel man the 911 call center 24 hours
a day, seven days a week. Through the enhanced 911 emergency system,
callers who are incapacitated due to illness or injury, or are unable
to speak due to the nature of the emergency, are identified by the computerized
phone system.
Each 911 call from a business or residence displays the name, address,
call back number and service area for the origination of the call. This
information, coupled with a computer mapping system, provides the communications
personnel the precise location of the call and mapped routes to the
call location, which can be immediately transmitted via fax networks
to Fire and EMS stations to expedite their response to rural locations.
Emergency Medical Dispatch
Communications personnel are specially trained and certified to provide
medical treatment instructions to callers during emergency situations.
Callers who access 911 for medical emergencies are provided step-by-step
instructions based on plans and instructions developed by health care
professionals to guide the lay person in providing prompt, immediate
medical treatment to victims of sudden or traumatic injury or illnesses
prior to the arrival of advance emergency medical services. These instructions,
provided by communications personnel, can be the deciding factor in
the survival of a victim suffering a medical emergency.
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