Sparta police chief answers questions about O'burg dispatch

Sparta Police Chief Ernest Reigstad, responding to complaints by Ogdensburg officials about the dispatch services provided by his town to the borough, said that he believed the system was working well. Ogdensburg Fire Chief Mark Batty last week had addressed the borough council about his concerns about the promptness of Sparta's dispatchers, who handle 9-1-1 calls for Ogdensburg and Franklin in addition to Sparta. Batty was prompted to come forward after his rescue squad waited ten minutes before being notified of a traffic accident. Although no lives were lost, Batty said that just five minutes can mean the difference between life and death. Batty also said that he had contacted Sparta officials to request a tape of the incident in question so that he could examine the timing of the initial call reporting the accident to Sparta and the call to Ogdensburg alerting the rescue squad. He said he did not receive the tape. Reigstad, who could not be reached last week before press time, responded Tuesday, a week after The Advertiser-News first called him. "My first reaction is that during emergency medical dispatching, you're dealing with an evolving situation in a serious incident," he said. "Very often when you can back up and look it over, it wasn't perfect. We are always critiquing the situation." Reigstad denied being contacted by anyone from the Ogdensburg fire department and said that had he been called immediately, action would have been taken. "If corrections need to be made, if retraining is needed, or a change of policy needs to be implemented, we'll do it," he said. "There are problems from time to time," he conceded. "Communications get missed; mistakes are made, sometimes on the part of the police, fire, or ambulance, and sometimes on the part of the dispatchers. I would only know of a concern if here was a message from the affected supervisor" he added. He said he felt that the groups have always worked well in the past. Reigstad said that he believed that the system had been working and that the problem is with one recent incident. He said, however, that he had not been contacted by Batty. "Anytime we have an incident where the fire chief, police chief, or emergency captain, or any member (from the forces) has a question, we say ‘come on down.' We all sit down and listen to the tape. It is always available for them to review. We want to go over it and try to figure out what happened and make corrections. We are constantly trying to improve," said Reigstad. "We want to know where they problem lies. Sometimes a problem is in the equipment or in the policy," he went on. "They (the dispatchers) might follow policy to the letter and its policy that failed them. "I am not worried about who's right or wrong. If our dispatchers were wrong, we have to make the corrective action to see that it doesn't happen again. If it's on the other end, they need to take the corrective action." Reigstad said that the groups meet periodically, and that Sparta tries "to keep an open door policy." Agreeing that if there is a problem, it must be corrected, Reigstad concluded, "I back the concerns 100 percent." Sparta Mayor Ailish Hambel said she and Ogdensburg Mayor Jacqueline Pietrodangelo will be meeting soon to discuss the situation but is confident the problem will be solved without difficulty.