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Monroeville, PA to Cut Emergency Response Times with ASAP

On December 19, Monroeville became the first municipality in the Pittsburgh area to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), a service designed to automate communication between alarm monitoring central stations and public safety dispatch/911 centers. Monroeville is the 32nd “PSAP” in the United States and second in Pennsylvania to connect with ASAP.

“Every second counts in emergencies,” said Monroeville Chief of Police Doug Cole. “With ASAP, we’ll be able to reduce call-processing times to provide quicker and more accurate emergency response to Monroeville citizens.”

Electronic data transmission results in the following benefits for residents and first responders:

  • Fewer phone calls to emergency response centers. Alarm center data is passed to public safety dispatch/911 operators electronically within seconds and then provided to first responders upon dispatch to the location.ASAP-Concept1D
  • Quicker processing times. Data doesn’t have to be input manually or communicated verbally, resulting in reduced hold times, less chance of human error and faster responses.
  • Greater accuracy of information transmitted.
  • More prompt action during natural disasters. It’s common for public safety dispatch/911 centers to be overwhelmed with calls during these types of emergencies.

Monroeville receives 2,500 calls at its dispatch center monthly. Historically, its average alarm response time has been between two to four minutes. With ASAP delivering alarm notification information directly from central stations to public safety answering points (PSAPs) and public safety dispatch centers via computer rather than by phone, the municipality expects alarm response times to drop to a minute and half or less. These benefits will extend across Monroeville police, fire and emergency medical services, and Pitcairn police and emergency medical services, according to Monroeville’s statement.

For more information about ASAP, visit tma.us/asap.

Source: PRNewswire