On average, the Wayne County Emergency Communications Center handled a call or text every 4.6 minutes during 2024. That’s 313 per day.
Or, for the communications specialists, business as usual.
The 2024 call load fits in the upper bounds of calls received for the past five years. The average daily work load has ranged from 305.8 calls in 2021 to 314.6 in 2023.
“Wayne County is fortunate to have an exceptional team of 911 professionals,” wrote Matthew Cain, the county’s director for the Emergency Communications Center and for the Emergency Management Agency, in an email.
The Indiana Statewide 911 Board last month recognized Wayne County as possibly the only fully staffed dispatch center in the state, Cain noted. That results from recruiting, training and retention efforts and recognition that dispatchers play an important role in emergency response.
“This wouldn’t be possible without the continued support of the Wayne County commissioners and county council, who recognize our dispatchers as first responders and ensure their wages and benefits reflect that commitment,” Cain wrote. “Our team works long hours, trains on their days off and sacrifices time with family to ensure no call for help goes unanswered. I couldn’t be prouder of the men and women who serve our community every day.”
Dispatchers received 40,681 emergency calls to 911 last year, according to the ECC’s 2024 annual report. That falls within the normal range of 40,000 to 45,000 calls annually the past seven years. There were also 1,295 texts received by 911. That’s a 158% increase from 502 texts received in 2023.
Cain attributes the significant increase to changes in alarm company procedures. Companies now send text notifications, rather than making phone calls, although a call is made if a text is not acknowledged within a minute.
“This streamlines the process, reducing call processing time and allowing our dispatchers to relay emergency information more efficiently,” according to Cain. “As more alarm companies implement this technology, we expect this trend to continue.”
Dispatchers also handled a normal number of administrative, non-emergency calls, receiving 49,514 and making 24,069.
The emergency calls resulted in 59,619 law enforcement service calls, an increase of 6.68% from 2023, and 16,840 fire and EMS service calls, an increase of 2.16%.
Richmond Police Department was sent on 31,794 service calls, which is 53.33% of the total. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office took 17,183 (28.82%) of the service calls, while town police departments totaled 10,642 service calls.
The most common call was a traffic stop, with 8,963 occurrences. There were 6,336 911 hangups, 4,378 speak-with-an-officer calls and 3,120 calls involving animals.
The number of hangups was a 34% drop from 2023, which had 9,646 hangups. That had been a 40% increase from 2022, when there were 6,889. Cain said that increase was due to technology in cellphones and smartwatches that automatically dialed 911 in certain situations.
“Fortunately, thanks to advocacy by national 911 organizations, Apple and Android developers improved their technology, refining fall detection and reducing false alarms,” Cain noted.
Some other law enforcement calls of note included 2,157 for physical and verbal domestic disturbances, 1,291 for robberies and thefts, 1,046 for individuals having emotional problems or being suicidal, 528 sex offenses, 404 burglaries and 270 batteries. There were also 138 calls for a person with a gun, 272 calls for shots fired, 27 calls for shootings and 10 calls for stabbings.
Richmond Fire Department was sent on the most fire/EMS service calls with 10,977, which is 65.40% of the total. Reid Health EMS, which provides EMS service outside Richmond and Wayne Township, was sent on 3,292 service calls, which is 19.61% of the total. The county’s 12 volunteer fire departments went on 2,515 service calls, which is 14.98% of the total.
Fire departments responded to 2,983 accidents, 693 fires and 635 business and residential alarms. Among the fires, 175 were structure fires, 168 illegal burns, 110 vehicle fires, 58 grass fires and 23 trash receptacle fires.
The most common EMS call was for a sick person, with 2,796. There also were 1,485 calls for difficulty breathing, 1,133 calls for falls, 1,064 calls for chest pains and 678 for unconscious or unresponsive people.
EMA responses
Hazardous weather situations and hazardous materials emergencies fall to the county’s EMA personnel.
During 2024, EMA implemented 120 weather advisories, watches or warnings, a 42.86% increase from 2023. Severe storms resulted in 23 advisories, four watches and 12 warnings during the year, while potential flooding resulted in 20 advisories, three watches and five warnings.
EMA declared a Level I travel advisory on Feb. 16, 2024, and the county implemented a burn ban from Sept. 19-26, 2024.
EMA responded to 23 hazmat situations, down 17.86% from 2023. Of the those responses, 15 occurred on Interstate 70, so of 51 hazmat situations across the two years, 28 (54.90%) occurred on the interstate.
A version of this article will appear in the February 5 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.