One of Vermont’s two state police dispatch centers had to enact portions of its emergency contingency plan this weekend after several employees contracted Covid-19, according to Lance Burnham, emergency communications commander for Vermont State Police.
This was the first time state dispatchers had needed to use the contingency plan, Burnham told Vermont’s Enhanced 911 Board at a routine meeting Tuesday morning.
“We could not keep up with the volume of work that was happening,” Burnham said to the board.
The Williston Public Safety Answering Point is one of two state police call centers, which receives 911 calls and dispatches more than 100 local police, fire and EMS departments, according to Burnham.
The contingency plan was in effect from Friday afternoon until about 7 a.m. Tuesday, Burnham said.
Life-threatening incidents and other emergencies were handled as normal, Burnham said in an interview, but state police asked local agencies and troopers to keep a cellphone on to take non-emergent calls that state police would’ve otherwise managed.
State police did not mandate overtime, according to Burnham, but employees have been taking on extra shifts to keep dispatch running.
Out in the field, Vermont State Police have also warned that severe staffing shortages are limiting their ability to assist local police departments. State police have restricted troopers’ responses in Shelburne, Springfield and Hardwick to “violent crime, in progress crimes, or other calls that are clearly emergencies.”
The Williston call center was already short-staffed, with eight vacancies out of their 37 positions, Burnham said. About a month ago, the site had 13 vacant positions.
Six employees were ill, some with Covid, when state police shifted to the contingency plan, Burnham said.
“It really hampers our ability to maintain normal operations when we only may have four people working,” he said.
While state police have filled some of the vacancies in recent weeks, it takes about five to six months of specialized training before a dispatcher can work independently, Burnham said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Covid cases at 911 dispatch center prompt state police to use emergency contingency plan.