Sentinel Staff Report

Article Launched: 08/03/2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

In an emergency, every single second counts. This month, first responders like the City Police and Fire Departments and especially those who depend on their assistance, are counting on you to support the reinstatement of critical funding for emergency communications services.

As background, the Santa Cruz Consolidated Emergency Communications Center SCCECC is a Joint Powers Authority providing public safety and 911 dispatch services for the County of Santa Cruz, and the cities of Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Capitola. Each of the participating cities pays their own share of the center’s operational costs. Recently funding for our City’s share of SCCECC emergency communications services was suspended as a result of a First Appellate Court of Appeals decision that ruled that a fee similar to one charged in Santa Cruz is in fact a special tax that must first be approved by voters.

Measure T is a mail-in election that asks City residents to restore 911 emergency call center funding through a small monthly charge of $3.49 per phone line. This amount restores funding for emergency communications that was put in place in 2003, at the same rate that was established in 2003. Low income, Lifeline customers, and public institutions, like schools, are exempt from having to pay.

Whether you think you need them or not 911 services save lives and you might just know someone who has received emergency care through a simple phone call.

Recently, without warning three devastating fires struck our region and SCCECC coordinated the response and care for hundreds of residents. Dispatchers worked around the clock to ensure that emergency services were delivered as quickly and expertly as possible. One dispatcher, using GIS mapping resources, even helped various fire and law enforcement agencies, some from out of the area, during the Summit and Martin fires. With her assistance, agencies unfamiliar with the many poorly marked streets in the fire area were able to fight the fire more effectively and helped ease the evacuation plan of residents.

There is no schedule as to when the next disaster may strike.

Also, as parents of two young children, my wife and I are keenly aware of how critical it is to have available emergency services whether at home or in the community.

My wife is trained in responding to emergencies as a licensed heath care provider. One evening she and I were out at a club when an elderly man fell to the ground breathless. Everything in the room seemed to have stopped and it appeared as though no one, of the nearly 200 people present, knew how to respond. Through her quick thinking she immediately directed an employee to first call 911, and then directed another employee to administer CPR, while she began chest compressions until help arrived. The fire department was on the scene within four minutes after the man fell, and a life was saved.

That’s how 911 can work to help you whenever you are faced with an emergency.

There are thousands of stories like this. Dispatchers responding to burglary calls, trained to take the extra time to comfort victims and Police and Fire working with SCCEC to coordinate critical care to the elderly and injured. Without this critical communication link first responders would lose precious seconds to help those in danger.

You might be one of the nearly 281,000 calls SCCECC coordinated for service during the past year and have your own story to tell.

With your support of Measure T, whenever someone’s life or health is at stake, those who work to save them can immediately respond in the event of an emergency. Passage of the measure will also allow the dispatch center to meet the new Federal infrastructure and equipment requirements for all 911 services without taking money away from other critical City services.

Your support of Measure T will protect funding for our nationally recognized dispatch center. It’s the only one in California to be accredited by the Commission for the Accreditation of Law Enforcement “” a testimony to its professionalism and outstanding service. Measure T is a small price to pay for the safety and security of Santa Cruz residents and their families.

Please join me in supporting Measure T by returning your mail in ballot prior to August 26. The safety and health of our community depends on your support.

David Terrazas is a Santa Cruz resident.