FULL TIME TELECOMMUNICATOR I and II JOB POSTING

Lycoming County 9-1-1/Communications Center

Municipal Elected Officials Fire/EMS Response Boxcard Form Update 4/30/18

The 9-1-1 Center at a Career Fair

Emergencies call 9-1-1 (Fire, Police, & Medical)

   Dispatch Changes for January 2013 (click for changes)
The mission of the Lycoming County Communications Center is to provide a county-wide communications system that permits 9-1-1 access to any individual in need of assistance in the County, dispatch of the appropriate police, fire, emergency medical services, emergency management personnel, and other affiliated agencies to emergency incidents by certified telecommunicators and to work in conjunction with the County Emergency Management Agency, Regional Emergency Medical Services Council, and Hazardous Materials Planning Division of the Department of Public Safety.

Public Safety Officials define emergencies as when an individual needs immediate assistance.  Examples of emergencies include fires, accidents, medical problems, intruders, etc.  If you are in doubt as to whether or not this is an emergency, always call 9-1-1.  Be prepared to answer the following questions:

1.     Where is your Emergency? (address & municipality)

2.     What is your Emergency?

3.     What is the phone number you are calling from? 

4.     What is your name, home address and home phone number?

Do not disconnect with the Telecommunicator until you are told to do so.  In certain circumstances the Telecommunicator will attempt to gather further information for the police officer that is responding or he/she will attempt to assist you with medical instructions.

The Lycoming County Communications Center has been proudly serving residents since 1976.  The Center provides a state-of-the-art Communications System for Lycoming and Sullivan Counties, dispatching 41 Fire Departments, 26 Ambulance Service, 3 Paramedic Services, 17 Quick Responder Units, 10 Police Departments and 52 EMA Coordinators.

There are five (5) radio consoles that dispatch from seven transmitter locations.  Within the Communication Center there are three main dispatch consoles, one supervisory dispatch console and one telephone answering position.  Tower sites are controlled by a digital “loop” microwave system.  This loop microwave system operates in a way that sends the microwave signals over eight separate microwave channels.  The loop interconnects the sites in such a manner that if one of the tower sites becomes inoperable the looped channel will reverse direction and maintain operability of the remaining sites.  The backup site is controlled via telephone circuit. 

The dispatch radio system consists of four-channel simulcast repeating base stations.  County Police, Fire/EMS, EMA and the Countywide channel are the four main dispatch channels.  The simulcast portion of the system means that signals from these base stations transmit simultaneously from the eight simulcast sites.  The repeating portion of the base stations means that field units transmit into the system on a repeater input frequency and their transmissions are repeated back out over the eight sites on the dispatch channel.  Each user can hear every other user in the system.  This new system, consoles, base stations, digital microwave, as well as a tower and two equipment shelters was completed in 2001 at a cost of $4.7 million dollars.