East Hartford has topped all other municipalities in the state

EAST HARTFORD — East Hartford has topped all other municipalities in the state for the last quarter in 911 response efficiency. According to Deputy Chief Beau Thurnauer, the third-quarter report, July to September 2015, from the Connecticut Division of Statewide Emergency Telecommunications, East Hartford Police Department successfully received 100 percent of its 911 calls in under 10 seconds. No other 911 center in the state matched East Hartford’s efficiency, he said. “This achievement is a testament to the hard work the men and women of our agency demonstrate every day,” Thurnauer said. He credits the department’s successes to the ability of not just the 911 call staff, but the dispatchers and supervisor on duty as well, especially during times of high call volume. “Usually, if there is a high volume of calls, it’s usually multiple calls about the same event,” Thurnauer said. If there are more calls than the three to four staff members on duty can handle, the dispatcher who, Turnauer said, is stationed nearby, can come and help field the calls. The supervisor will also take calls, totaling as many as six people receiving 911 calls. Thurnauer said that in the event of multiple calls, the PSAP operators have to make split-second decisions in triaging the calls based upon the level of emergency. If a call is not an immediate emergency, the call will be put on hold so a more urgent call can be fielded. “We average about 6,000 911 calls a quarter,” Thurnauer said. “If we are just 1 percent off, that’s 60 calls we miss. It doesn’t sound like much, but that could be someone’s family member in danger.”