Guernsey County Fire Departments Receive IPADS

On September 16th 2020, all Guernsey County Fire Departments were trained on our computer aided dispatch through the Soma Platform. The Soma Platform is a CAD/RMS (Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management) System that runs the Guernsey County 911 Dispatch Center. All Guernsey County Fire Departments have been issued at least one Apple IPAD with cellular data service through Verizon or AT&T. Fire Departments that have a squad were issued an additional IPAD with cellular data service. Soma and the IPADS provides first responders with instant access to what the 911 Dispatchers are entering into the Soma CAD system as an incident is being reported. This includes incident address location and map plotting, nature of call and dispatcher notes. Soma also provides the ability for dispatchers and fire departments to see first responders’ current location on the 911 Dispatch Center’s state of the art ESRI based mapping system. An added feature not related to Soma is the ability for squads to send EKG results instantly from the field to hospitals due to the cellular network connectivity.

Sheriff Paden states “This is another example of life saving services that we can provide because of the passing of the 911 Levy and updates to the 911 Dispatch Center. The Guernsey County tax payers work hard for their money and we strive to give them the best emergency services that we can provide.” The original pilot program for the IPADS began in the spring of 2020 with IPADS and cellular data service being issued to Antrim and Byesville Fire Departments. Completion of the pilot program was delayed until now due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the availability of equipment. After a positive response from those Fire Departments, the Sheriff approved the purchase of the equipment for all Fire Departments in Guernsey County paid out of the 911 Levy Fund.