Santa Barbara County is looking at ways it might handle some major issues with its emergency dispatch system.
The current facility which handles the Sheriff’s Office, County Fire Department, and Emergency Medical Services doesn’t have a backup system, and isn’t interconnected with other 911 dispatch systems in the county.
One alternative calls for the agencies to continue to use the existing facility with some management and technological improvements. It would cost about $140,000 for the technological improvements, and $1.1 million dollars more in recurring costs.
The second proposal calls for moving fire, and emergency medical services dispatches to the county fire department headquarters complex a few miles away. It would create a backup facility, but the cost would be high. The new facility would cost more than $8 million dollars, with more than $2 million dollars in annual operational costs.
County Supervisors are set to review the proposals today, and look at what alternative, if any they want to pursue.
