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One of the work stations at the new Provo City dispatch center.

Courtesy Provo City

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The new dispatch center at Provo City Hall.

Courtesy Provo City

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Imagine you lived in Orem and were having an emergency, either of the medical, fire or safety variety. You do what you’re supposed to by calling 911 and you get the Provo dispatch center instead.

That often happens, according to both dispatch centers, and because of that it adds time to getting police, ambulances and fire engines sent out. Both dispatches have to call the other, just like a resident would, to transfer the emergency information.

That may end soon as the Provo and Orem dispatch centers are working on combining into one, based out of the new Provo City Hall dispatch center. Orem dispatchers would become Provo City personnel.

During the Orem City Council’s work session at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, the council will hear an update on how contracts are going and how transitioning will be put into place for the Orem dispatchers.

Provo is ready for a smooth transition, according to Wayne Parker, Provo’s chief administrative officer. But so far, there is no written agreement.

“We have met with dispatchers in Orem and are working on an individualized basis,” Parker said. “We are looking at where all will fit into the hierarchy.”

Officials are having to take care of human resource issues like social security taxes, insurance, benefits, paid leaves and more.

“This is good from both sides,” Parker said. “Orem is down to 12 dispatchers.”

“I think this is necessary for the future,” said Capt. Mark Sorensen of the Orem Police Department, who is working on the Orem side of the transition.

“Staffing is driving this,” he said. “It’s a very difficult position and a hard job to do with a lot of stress.”

Sorensen also said it will give both cities a larger employee pool to draw from, which is one of the biggest concerns currently.

Provo Fire Chief Jim Miguel has been helping move the issue since the beginning and, according to Sorensen, there is a great deal of confidence in the Provo dispatch.

“The Orem dispatchers will be paid the same as those with the same parity in Provo,” Miguel said. “The real benefit is citizens will have better service.”

Parker said the state had been putting pressure on Utah County to combine dispatch areas. Right now there are four in the county, shrinking to three if Orem and Provo combine. The largest dispatch center is the Central Dispatch that handles several cities in the county.

“There is a huge border between the two cities,” Parker said. “Calls are coming from Orem to Provo and vice versa. The handoff (of the emergency information) is not super smooth.”

Miguel added, “There are a lot of calls that cross over. We’ve made some changes. If you call in the gray area in Provo you could be questioned by an Orem dispatcher and they are typing it to the Provo dispatch. It’s third-party dispatching.”

While officials say a merger would improve service levels, it also lets the two combined groups stay competitive by hiring with reduced overhead and they get a bigger bang for their buck, according to Parker.

According to Karen Tapahe, communication specialist for Orem, formal documents are expected to come before the Orem council on Sept. 27.

Parker said a contract should be signed by the end of October. The two dispatch centers would continue until Dec. 31 before switching over to joint operations Jan. 1, 2023.

While the overall idea seems to have support, there are some, including former dispatchers in Orem, who are saying the change is coming too late for the number of dispatchers who have left and that the potential combining of centers could leave Orem in a future conundrum.

The Utah Legislature, under the state’s Public Safety Answering Point information, has made it difficult to get a dispatch center back once it is given up.

Miguel said the state gives money to the dispatch centers and each is expensive to run, particularly the technology part.

Orem residents should not be afraid they won’t ever get a center back, according to Miguel, who claimed that the center in Orem will be mothballed and not lose its designation as a Public Safety Answering Point.

“It could be implemented,” Miguel said. He noted all of the switches will be turned to Provo but could easily be turned on and used in Orem again.

“We did that when we were trying to move Provo into the new dispatch center. All our calls were transferred to Orem,” Miguel said.

Miguel also noted that Lindon and Vineyard emergency calls will also go through the new center, as they are contracted with Orem for public safety and fire in Lindon and fire in Vineyard. Vineyard’s policing is done by the county.

Residents interested in watching the Orem City Council work session discussion may view it on the Orem YouTube channel.