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JBLM and Pierce County partner on 911

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Public safety collaboration and interoperability in Pierce County will get the “win” when Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) begins dispatching emergency services using South Sound 911’s regional computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. The partnership will unite South Sound 911’s 41 local police and fire agencies with the military installation in an effort to provide a more regionalized emergency response system for the community and provide more efficiencies for JBLM dispatchers and responders.

“It’s a win-win for the responders and community,” South Sound 911 Executive Director Andrew Neiditz said.

“Our community as a whole experienced several major multi-jurisdictional events in the last year alone – including those which involved JBLM – where we’ve seen the benefits of interoperability, improved communications, and shared information,” Neiditz said, referencing the Dec. 18 Amtrak train derailment. “When we agree to partner and work together, we can – and will – do better.”

The train derailment occurred near DuPont and the mutual aid response involved responders from JBLM, the Washington State Patrol, and local responders from both Pierce and Thurston Counties.

JBLM Fire & Emergency Services Fire Chief Ken Rhault agrees there will be benefits from the partnership.

“This Intergovernmental Service Agreement will finally bridge the gap for full interoperability with our community partners, thus providing for the best in emergency response to our communities,” Rhault said.

The service agreement calls for South Sound 911 to provide JBLM with access, licensing, maintenance, and support for its Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure CAD system and its accompanying Mobile for Public Safety (MPS) application. The agency officially launched the unified CAD system in October 2015 during a multi-year, phased implementation.

South Sound 911 estimates JBLM’s CAD system will be ready for use by late-2019.

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