IL Fire Department to Modernize Station Alert System

ROCKFORD, IL—City Council on Tuesday agreed to spend $425,071 to modernize its roughly 30-year-old Rockford Fire Department station alert system, enabling the department to send firefighters to separate emergencies simultaneously.

Fire Chief Derek Bergsten said new automated dispatch equipment will be installed at the city's 11 fire stations and could cut response times in cases when there are multiple calls at the same time.

"Many times we get two or three calls at the same time, and we have to wait until one is dispatched to dispatch the other ones," Bergsten said. "With the new system, we can dispatch five calls at the same time from different stations. That will improve our response times because we don't have to wait to cycle through the system."

The improvements are part of an effort led by the Winnebago County Emergency Telephone Systems Board to modernize dispatching and speed emergency response across the entire county.

Funded by a 9-1-1 surcharge on telephones and mobile phones, the ETSB is paying $374,932 to bring the backbone of the automated dispatch system — the hard drive that receives information from emergency call takers — to all 35 fire stations across the county.

Rockford City Council approved a bid from U.S. Digital Designs of Tempe, Arizona, for the equipment. Bergsten said the city is paying for additional equipment with savings from a switch from antiquated and more expensive copper phone lines to fiber optic cable which is less expensive and has greater capacity.

When residents call 911 in Winnebago County, the calls go either to the Rockford or the Winnebago County dispatch center. The call taker enters information from the 9-1-1 call into a computer aided dispatch system, creating a ticket.

Once in place, the new station alert system will utilize text-to-speech technology to almost immediately relay the ticket information to the proper fire stations across the city or county

Rockford City Council agreed to purchase the equipment those automated alerts will trigger inside city fire stations including modules that light up, sound an alarm and provide an automated voice telling firefighters about the emergency type and location. The system can also automatically display call information on message boards and how much time has elapsed since the 9-1-1 call was placed.

Rockford provides dispatch services for the city and five other departments in Winnebago County.

But calls are often transferred to a third party dispatching service for many smaller departments for fire and emergency medical calls. Once the automated system is in place, those fire stations could get the initial information even before the emergency call is transferred to the dispatcher, speeding response times across the county.

"They will receive the signal in a much more rapid time frame," Bergsten said.

Study aims to improve 11th Street

Rockford will team with the Illinois Department of Transportation for a multi-modal transportation study on how to improve the efficiency and safety of streets, pedestrian amenities, bicycle facilities and freight lines in the 11th Street corridor.

The study will focus on a 3 ½-mile stretch of 11th Street from Airport Drive near the Chicago Rockford International Airport to SwedishAmerican Hospital on Charles Street.

Public Works Director Kyle Saunders said as airport cargo business continues to grow, the corridor is growing busier.

Under an agreement approved by City Council on Tuesday, Rockford will tap its local Capital Improvement Program money to leverage state funding for 80% of the study cost.

"It's great," Saunders said. "For $40,000, we are going to get a $200,000 study."

A mother's plea

Pamela Whiteside made an emotional plea for justice for her slain son during the public comments portion of the City Council meeting.

Jarvis Wilder, 28, was shot multiple times Oct. 3, 2018, in the 4500 block of Newburg Road and later died at the hospital. Whiteside said Wilder's fiancée was with him at the time and was also shot multiple times, but survived.

Whiteside said her son's three daughters are now growing up without a father.

"I don't have much, but I will do what I can," Whiteside said. "I just want this city to bring justice to me. I've got a hole in my heart right now because my son is not here. The ones that did it are still out there living their life. My son didn't deserve that. He was at home and he was at the right place at the right time."

Wilder was the 14th of 21 Rockford homicide victims in 2018. His killing is one of five that remain unsolved from 2018.

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