Seating was all but full for Monday’s Sampson County Board of Commissioner meeting, largely due to a walk-on item added to the agenda — a presentation by Rick Sauer, director of emergency services, on the troubling issues that have surfaced at the local 911 center, sending emergency services to the wrong address, slowing down response times.

“First, I’d like to acknowledge we made some mistakes,” Sauer said to the board, mentioning the Aug. 15 accident on 421, near Delway. “The appropriate information was not obtained.” The second mistake that he admitted was the house fire south of Clinton, where the address was not verified, initially sending fire department responders to the wrong house.

“Both of these errors were human error” he said bluntly, stopping short of any direct blame.

Sauer addressed the Aug. 31 wreck on Interstate 40, near mile marker 358, stating no mistakes were made in the handling of this situation.

“We received 23-plus calls, and all the callers told us that the accident occurred between (mile markers) 248 and 358, a 10-mile span,” said Sauer. “One caller even told us that the accident was at (marker) 416, which is in Wilmington – which obviously wasn’t accurate.”

He noted that Duplin County 911 and State Highway Patrol received similar calls that morning. It took eight minutes to appropriately locate the wreck and verify the location.

The EMS director continued, mentioning the criticism over communication between county and other officials during Tropical Storm Debby, saying that issue has improved, and with open dialogue they are working to correct these issues in the event of future occurrences.

Sauer bundled these issues into an overall problem: staffing retention and open positions.

While the average vacancy rate at 911 centers across the country stood at roughly 25 percent, Sampson County currently has a vacancy rate of 35 percent. He noted that vacancy in 911 centers across the nation is due to work schedules, better pay elsewhere, stress, and a lack of recognition and support from their employers.

“We did impromptu phone calls to other centers around us, and we are the lowest paid center in the region.” Sauer asserted.

On top of the vacant positions and lower wages, Sampson County’s call center also has fewer experienced personnel, he said, stressing that improvements were being made. In 2021, half of the staff had less than 18 months of experience, compared to three years later, currently over half of the staff has up to two years of experience. While the numbers should have increased by three years, it shows how chronic the retention problem is among the call center staff.

Sauer also mentioned the stress put on the shoulders of staff, as they have to carry extra shifts and responsibilities while seven of the positions remain unfilled.

“These dispatch communicators are good people; they’re working hard, they’re our friends and neighbors but they are burned out doing their best at what they do,” he said.

But if staff retention, lack of experience, and burnout by dedicated dispatchers isn’t enough to worry about, Sauer gave the commissioners something else to keep them up at night.

There’s one radio tower in Sampson County for paging all emergency responders and it’s almost 25 years old. With the lifespan of a tower being around 30 years, the county also doesn’t have a backup plan if there is a failure due to an electrical problem, or heavy damage due to a storm.

“If a storm blows through we’re essentially dead in the water,” Sauer stressed, as the commissioners sat quietly, seemingly shocked by this revelation. He recommended doing a full study of the system — while the 911 center is new, with an old tower it cancels out the new technological advancements if a tornado or hurricane blows over the tower, he stressed.

However, even with something else to worry about, that may or may not happen, Sauer said they are beginning to take steps to address these issues, and move toward efficiency through preparedness and communication.

Sauer’s improvement plan lays out six steps, ones he presented to the board Monday night:

• Assess the situation by acknowledging the issues at hand, such as staffing shortages.

• Revisit and review training programs, by improving observation, more detailed documentation, refresher trainer for current employees, and leadership training.

• Improve systems and procedures, by reviewing protocols, updating where needed, invest in new technology, such as training simulators and explore the possibility of Artificial Intelligence in relation to emergency response calls.

• Foster a supportive work environment, such as providing better support services, and improve open communications.

• Monitor and evaluate, setting clear objectives, conduct reviews and encourage employee feedback.

• Recognize and reward improvement, via performance enhancement, training milestones, anniversary of employment dates, and recognition overall for dedicated service.

“We are doing some of these things, but we can do a better job,” Sauer admitted. “We’re trying to address what we can. Funding is a concern and will probably be costly.”

Sauer also said it’s a slow process that can’t be corrected overnight.

How costly it might be remains to be seen. Lee County, with a population of roughly the same as Sampson, at 65,000, but much smaller in square miles, sets aside slightly over 17 percent for public safety in its fiscal budget, and Wake County, with a population of almost 1.2 million, allocates about 12 percent of its budget for the current fiscal year.

“Unfortunately, mistakes can be made because we’re all human,” Commissioner Chairman Jerol Kivett said, mentioning he toured and spent the day at the 911 center recently. He also called out the “negative publicity” that had befallen the issue.

“Funding is a problem and will always be a problem being a tier-one county,” he added. “We also see the need — but the other problem is finding eligible candidates (to fill the positions).”

Kivett thanked Sauer and the staff for their dedicated work, but also noted room for improvement.

“Open communication is a good start, a very good start,” Commissioner Allen McLamb agreed, commending Sauer on the progress being made. “It’s amazing what’s going on over there (at the 911 center), and I’m really impressed with what they’re doing.”