Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 1 of 3 · from the scan, no model involved
£-977
Letters are going out to everybody in Rappahannock County informing them of their new addresses for the Enhanced 911 emergency dispatch system called E-911 for short.
So far those in Amissville, Viewtown, Castleton, Chester Gap, Woodville and Boston have been mailed letters. Letters for Washington, Sperryville, Flint Hill and Huntly are due to go out by the end of November.
Apparently there were mistakes with the zip code for Castleton residents, but these are being corrected. Most of this addressing has gone smoothly.
Once the system is in place, sometime in late winter or early spring, a telephone call to 911 will produce information on a computer screen at the dispatch center in the Sheriffs office showing where the call came from. The new addresses will appear along with a map showing the location of the building from which the call came. Also displayed, if people have informed Autometric, the company handling this project, is information on health problems the people in the house have to aid emergency workers when they respond.
The E-911 system will enable rescue squads to respond even if the person calling cannot tell them how to get to the house, and even if the caller loses Consciousness.
The various fire and rescue companies will have maps of the county in their vehicles showing the location of each occupied building, even those without a telephone.
This should speed emergency service and is the most sophisticated service available. County telephone users have been paying for this service for several years through a $2 per month surcharge on their telephone bills. This has enabled the county to purchase the E-911 system. The charge will be decreased this summer to an amount needed to maintain the data base in the system.
County citizens should be gratified this process has been as smooth as it has been. The county escaped most of the wrangling about road names that several surrounding counties faced. Rappahannock also escaped jurisdictional battles about dispatching that plagued Culpeper and the sticker shock that hit Fauquier.
If Bell Atlantic and Centel can finally agree on how their data can fit into the system, Rappahannock should shortly have a system second to none at a very reasonable cost. The Fire and Rescue Association, which pushed for the system, and the county administration, which has implemented it, deserve our thanks.
98.0%