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Pitkin County, Colorado, is in the west-central part of the state, about 11 miles west of the Continental Divide. The county has a population of 17,358 per the 2020 Census and an area of 975 square miles. The county seat and largest city is Aspen, a popular ski resort destination that is popular year-round due to a plethora of outdoor activities. However, the location also is exacerbating the acute staffing shortage that is afflicting emergency communications centers (ECCs) nationwide.
Like many ECCs across the country, Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center (PCREDC) has been struggling with an acute staffing shortage. It also had significant concerns regarding its facility and its governance and funding structures.
Mission Critical Partners (MCP) conducted a holistic assessment of Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Centers emergency-response environment. The assessment took three months and was based on industry standards and best practices, as well as the collective experience and expertise of MCP’s subject-matter experts.
Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center received a 95-page, findings-and-recommendations report that is informing the district’s 5-year plan to improve operations, governance, and funding.
Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center (PCREDC) hired Mission Critical Partners (MCP) to conduct a holistic assessment of its emergency-response environment. While officials were most concerned about staffing, they also had other concerns. These included the facility — which had significant space limitations and a lease that was soon to expire — the governance structure, and the funding structure, particularly the cost-sharing model that was in place.
The facility is in Aspen, directly across U.S. 82 from the airport. Finding enough personnel to staff the facility is a significant challenge due to the area’s extremely high cost of living — none of the existing personnel can afford to live there. Consequently, some staff members drive 1-2 hours each way to the facility, and to add to the long commute the area is prone to weather extremes, especially in the winter. For example, the Aspen area receives about 179 inches of snow annually due to its elevation and location in the Rocky Mountains. When it snows, roads often become impassable, making an already long commute for most personnel even longer — if they can get to the facility at all.
MCP determined there are potential organic regionalization opportunities with other consolidated ECCs, including some that serve resort communities and are experiencing the same challenges as Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center. Regionalization would offer economies of scale that would enable the consolidated agencies to leverage shared technology, particularly as it relates to Next Generation 911 (NG911) service. Not only would regional consolidation potentially resolve these issues for all concerned, but it also would create cost efficiencies and enhance cost sharing for member agencies. This in turn would help them upgrade their communications technology more quickly, amongst other benefits.
What MCP Did
The project began in June 2021 with strategic-visioning and focus-group sessions. Then MCP subject-matter experts conducted a thorough assessment of Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center’s facility, operations, governance, and funding structure. The assessment took three months and was based on industry standards and best practices, as well as the SMEs’ collective experience and expertise. A 95-page, findings-and-recommendations report was delivered in December 2021.
The Results
Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center received a 95-page, findings-and-recommendations report that is informing the district’s 5-year plan to improve operations, governance, and funding.
“The report did exactly what it was intended to do, which was to provide a roadmap that Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center could leverage to bring its strategic vision to fruition,” said Stacy Banker, an MCP project manager who led the assessment project.
“MCP gave us a lot of great ideas for our 5-year strategic plan that will make us more efficient moving forward. We wanted to make sure that our board knew that we were doing everything we could to provide the best service possible.”
Brett Loeb, communications director, Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center
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