Diboll makes dispatch agreement with Lufkin

DIBOLL, Texas (KTRE) - Under a new system, when a 911 call is made in Diboll, it will not be answered by a dispatcher in Diboll; it will now be routed to a dispatcher in Lufkin. However, there will always be a dispatcher on duty dedicated specifically to Diboll. Diboll City Manager Jason Arnold says it was time for the current system to be replaced.

“It’s not sustainable,” said Arnold. “So we started looking at different options, what could we do to either increase the strength of how we are offering it or did we need to look outside and so there are a lot of options, number one being the city of Lufkin.”

The new system has a hard start date of October 1, with time for tests and soft starts in the interim. The chief concerns of the current system are that it has been harder for Diboll to hire dispatchers, and the current equipment the city uses needs to be upgraded.

“We average about one call an hour,” said Arnold. “So, that’s not a ton, but the way you have to fill a dispatch shift you can’t assume it’s only going to be one an hour, so you have to have a lot of people ready to do it, and that’s just not the most efficient way of handling that.”

The dispatch shift to Lufkin comes relatively soon after the decision to make the countywide shift to Allegiance Mobile Health for EMS services. Arnold says the law enforcement dispatch decision is entirely separate, but that the public shouldn’t worry about the two recent changes.

“Look, at the end of the day, if you call 911, our people are going to come and help, and it’s those same great officers, fire fighters, and Allegiance rescue who have been taking care of Diboll for all this time,” said Arnold. “If you call 911, they are going to come and they are going to take care of you.”