The CAL FIRE Felton Emergency Command Center (ECC)
Dispatches for CAL FIRE San Mateo - Santa Cruz Unit,
Pajaro Valley Fire District, Santa Cruz County Fire Department,
Santa Cruz County OES fire mutual aid
and four CALSTAR air ambulances located throughout the greater Bay Area.
Dispatches for CAL FIRE San Mateo - Santa Cruz Unit,
Pajaro Valley Fire District, Santa Cruz County Fire Department,
Santa Cruz County OES fire mutual aid
and four CALSTAR air ambulances located throughout the greater Bay Area.
ABOUT US:
In 2008 Felton ECC answered 12,363 calls for service; an average of 33.87 incidents per day. During fire season our minimum staffing is three positions of dispatch (POD's) staffed per day, two per night. During non-fire season we have minimum of two POD's staffed 24 hours. We currently have a permanent roster of nine personnel assigned to the ECC.
Felton ECC is a Secondary PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point). All 9-1-1 routed calls are first answered by the Primary PSAP, generally the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction, then forwarded to our center for interrogation of the caller. Felton ECC uses a Vesta 9-1-1 phone system which consists of seven 9-1-1 trunk lines, five seven digit emergency lines, eleven non-emergency business lines, two microwave lines, a direct line to NetCom (Santa Cruz County Primary PSAP) and four direct ring-down lines for activating the four air ambulances.
Felton ECC uses Northrop Grumman Altaris CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) designed specifically for CAL Fire to process, prioritize and recommend resources for dispatch. Altaris CAD is a map based CAD which calculates routes and response times from each resource to the address entered into CAD and recommends resources based upon the response plan and call type.
Felton ECC is also the back-up dispatch for NetCom. In the event that NetCom is inoperable Felton ECC has the capability to answer 9-1-1 calls and dispatch all local government fire and EMS agencies within Santa Cruz County.