Safety improvements are promising sign
What was supposed to be a quick ceremony Thursday afternoon to celebrate the arrival of the first medical helicopter landing at the new helipad in the Greene County community of Mather turned into a serious occasion when a woman suffering a stroke desperately needed the helicopter so she could be flown to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment.
Morgan Township officials and Jefferson volunteer firefighters invited the crew from Allegheny Health Network’s LifeFlight squad for the ceremony and hailed the helipad as an important safety improvement for the community.
It was certainly worth every penny to the woman who needed it at that moment.
And, it will be a great safety improvement to people living in Mather and other neighboring communities who will no longer have to wonder if a medical helicopter can land in soggy athletic fields or snow-covered parking lots.
“It already is helping people in the community,” Morgan Township Supervisor Shirl Barnhart said after the helicopter had lifted off carrying the ailing woman.
That was just one example of several safety and security initiatives announced last week in Greene County.
At the monthly prison board meeting Wednesday, Greene County jail Warden Harry Gillispie announced a number of security improvements planned for the facility following a prisoner escape in late December.
The most surprising improvement is electrifying the top of the perimeter fence to keep inmates from attempting to escape.
Gillispie said the fence would conduct a nonlethal current of 7,000 volts of electricity and would also include sensors to alert corrections officers if someone was attempting to escape.
Another change is an updated surveillance camera system that will allow corrections officers to view images in real-time, rather than with a 5-second delay. A few seconds might make all the difference in an emergency.
While a new helipad and improved security at the jail are important, a new computer system for Greene County’s 911 dispatch center will probably have the greatest effect on residents. The county commissioners voted Thursday to spend $284,450 to purchase a new computer system for the 911 center that will offer dispatchers more tools in every emergency.
Greene County Emergency Management Director Greg Leathers called the new capabilities an “overall improvement” to the current system, which actually was a major leap forward in technology for the dispatchers who once used books to find addresses before sending out emergency responders.
The new system will be installed this summer and should be fully operational by the end of the year.
The upgrade will connect with the county’s mapping system and has the ability to communicate with computers installed in police cruisers.
That will give officers more information before arriving at a scene, including the call history of a particular address. Just think about how much safer it will make an uncertain situation for both the officer and the caller.
These are great safety advancements for the county and its residents.
And as the people at that ceremony in Mather watched the helipad pay immediate dividends, hopefully the other upgrades announced last week will prove themselves to be just as important.