LETTERS

Start protecting our families

Posted 3/15/18

To the Editor: Recent press coverage of the inadequacies of the 911 system aroused my interest. As Chairman of the Coventry Fire District, and a nurse practitioner, I have a personal stake in protecting my taxpayers and patients. I contacted

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LETTERS

Start protecting our families

Posted

To the Editor:

Recent press coverage of the inadequacies of the 911 system aroused my interest. As Chairman of the Coventry Fire District, and a nurse practitioner, I have a personal stake in protecting my taxpayers and patients. I contacted Representative Robert Lancia, the source of the initial press coverage, and he explained the call holding problem and the divergence of over 11 million dollars in funding to the RI General Fund. The 911 system is short staffed due to an inadequate budget. I learned that the fee we all pay in our telephone bill (a hidden tax) raises 17 million dollars annually yet the 911 system has a budget of less than 6 million dollars annually. I felt like I, and the rest of the citizen taxpayers in the state, have been mugged.

My initial thoughts were on where is the money going. Are the eighty-nine people the Governor hired who make over $100,000 annually the beneficiary of my public safety money? The Governor has spent over 11 million dollars on the infamous 89 since she became governor. Is the governor’s Progressive/Socialist agenda benefiting? Is this her way of balancing the budget without cutting unnecessary and expensive services? Most importantly, does she care about public safety?

This problem seemed like just the tip of the iceberg, so I did a deep dive into the problem. I discovered that we have an antiquated and inadequate 911 system. 

Thirty years ago, it was state of the art. Virtually all 911 calls came via a landline and the system was able to immediately precisely identify the caller’s location. Today, more than seventy percent of all calls come via a mobile phone. The system does not have the capability to use GPS to identify location, but must rely on the caller to give an address. Significant delays occur when the caller does not speak English, or is hysterical. Then the call is transferred to the locality indicated by the caller, where they ask the same questions all over again. Delays multiply from seconds to minutes and more. A heart attack victim does not have minutes; he/she will die if any delay takes place. Are you listening, Governor?

Our system can be updated to a state of the art system with the fees that are currently collected in our phone bill. The 911 call center could immediately identify the mobile phone caller’s location with GPS, an immediate text message or email can be sent to the appropriate responding locality, and another electronic message could be sent to the first responder. This system would dispatch the first responder in seconds and also eliminate the radio messages, which can be listened to by anyone, and is a violation of Federal HIPPA Law. This system would be seamless, fast, and safe. The citizens of Rhode Island deserve no less, and we are already paying for it.

In closing, I would like to paraphrase Governor Raimondo’s Propaganda ministry: Hey Gov, when are you going to stop stealing from me and start protecting my family? Put the money back in the 911 system and order an immediate state of the art upgrade to the system. 

I’m willing to serve on any committee to investigate the best way to upgrade our 911 system to state of the art technology. Give me a call Gov; I can be reached at the Coventry Fire District.

Frank Palin

Chairman,

Coventry Fire District 

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