Allen County’s dispatchers are real ACEs.
During Tuesday’s county commission meeting, Chelsie Angleton, 911 director, shared the good news that the dispatch center is on its way to receiving ACE accreditation, which stands for Accredited Center of Excellence.
“I am going to be on that stage next year with my team,” she said of the award, and is hoping the center receives recognition for both its fire and medical services.
“It’s been a big goal of mine,” Angleton added, “and it’s been in the works for a couple of years.”
In order to receive ACE accreditation, a center has its calls reviewed by an outside agency, and a certain (high) percentage must be found to be in compliance with specific standards.
And indeed, Angleton shared a handout that showed great improvement by the dispatch center over the past year in reaching those standards, even given the fact that, as a small agency, literally every call is reviewed.
For example, in June 2020, 45% medical calls were considered “high compliance,” whereas in June 2021, that number jumped to 70%. In June 2020, 13% of medical calls were considered “non-compliant,” where in June 2021, that number dropped to less than 1%.
In June 2020, 55% of fire calls were considered “high compliance,” whereas in June 2021, that number jumped to 75%. In June 2020, 13% of fire calls were considered “non-compliant,” whereas in June 2021, that number dropped to 0%.
Not only does the accreditation suggest that folks in Allen County are in good hands concerning safety, receiving the award can translate into lower insurance rates and other shared benefits for residents as well.
All told, Angleton said that just thinking about how proud she was of her team and their accomplishments made her “teary-eyed.”
“I’m very proud of all our employees over there,” added commissioner Bruce Symes, “and I think that’s a reflection of good leadership.”
DURING his weekly report, public works director Mitch Garner said that crews had been out attending to repairs following recent rains.
“They made everything passable, now they’re touching up the sides of the roads,” he said.
Garner also noted that most of the high water had receded by Monday.
Dust control has been pushed back by the rain as well, Garner said, but the county’s rock crusher is finally ready for action.
