1.3.25 – DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – By Keegan Turnbough
911 dispatchers in Dubuque County say new software is helping them provide more accurate information to emergency responders.
The Dubuque Emergency Communications Center started using the Prepared Live platform in March 2024. The software lets callers relay their real-time location and send videos and texts to dispatchers through a link sent to their mobile device.
“It takes you to the next level. Before the 911 call would come in, you strictly would have a conversation with the caller,” explains Emergency Communications Director Jessica George-Rethwisch. “We could never do that before.”
George-Rethwisch says the agency collected 238 pieces of media through the platform. The most common uses are “clearing out or contacting 911 hang-ups, self-harm or suicide, domestic incidents, driving incidents, suspicious activity, and missing person cases.”
Lead Public Safety Dispatcher Jason Cox says he likes being able to text callers through the software.
“In today’s day and age, it seems like people don’t want to answer the phone,” says Cox. “We more likely get a response through Prepared Live, or if they let us know there is a problem, if they’re unable to speak with an offender in the house or some sort of issue where they can’t talk.”
After gathering information, dispatchers can let police, fire, or EMS know if their response needs to change from the usual protocol.
Cox was working on December 2 when a caller reported a house fire in rural Dubuque County. New Vienna/Luxemburg firefighters were on the scene within 10 minutes and crews from four other area departments showed up to help shortly thereafter.
New Vienna/Luxemburg Fire Chief Mark Lukan says they were able to get more crews to help because the caller opted into the Prepared Live platform, showing dispatchers how far the fire had progressed.
“Dispatch giving us that video, we were able to get more resources sooner,” explains Lukan. “We knew that we needed additional resources more than normal because of how far the fire was out in the country and how far the fire had progressed, so we were able to call more additional resources above and beyond what a normal fire would take.”
The home was a total loss, but Lukan says because dispatchers called in other crews, family heirlooms, pictures, and memories were saved.
Cox says the Prepared Live software helped him notice the caller standing “directly below a power line,” instructing the caller to move out of harm’s way because it was likely to disconnect from the house and potentially fall.
George-Rethwisch notes the new platform also helps dispatchers communicate with people who speak a different language.
“It will translate as the call is coming in, so we can see both sides of it. We can see the English version and it translates to whatever language they are speaking,” says George-Rethwisch.
Prepared Live’s language translation tool was used more than 40 times in 2024.