The Madisonville/Hopkins County Central Dispatch serves as a support unit handling initial calls requesting police, fire and/or medical assistance for Hopkins County. Central Dispatch is the answering point for both landline and wireless 9-1-1 calls for Hopkins County and we dispatch for Madisonville Police, Earlington Police, Mortons Gap Police, Nortonville Police, and the Hopkins County Sheriffs Office. In addition to police dispatch we also dispatch for 4 Madisonville Fire Stations, 13 volunteer fire departments and 5 rescue squads. Calls for medical assistance are transferred to Medical Center Ambulance using a one button transfer. Central Dispatch utilizes three 8 hour shifts to provide public assistance 24 hours a day seven days per week requiring a minimum of two dispatchers per shift.
Central Dispatch receives calls on three 9-1-1 emergency lines and four administrative lines. The administrative lines are for reporting non-emergency situations, requesting copies of reports and to speak with administrative personnel . When receiving multiple calls, 9-1-1 and non-emergency lines automatically roll over to the next available line.
When taking a call for assistance, the telecommunicators primary concern is officer and civilian safety. Telecommunicators accurately obtain pertinent information, determine the call type, and dispatch this information to the appropriate agencies. Information is provided to police officers and firefighters to enhance their safety and assist them with responding to calls for service. Telecommunicators communicate with emergency personnel by radio and the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. The CAD system is used for recording and transmitting information, dispatching, and tracking unit status.
Telecommunicators also document information for incidents such as security checks, vacation watches, repossessed vehicles, controlled burns, extra patrol request, traffic stops and several other incidents. Central Dispatch receives after hours emergency calls for Madisonville Utilities. This includes calls for power outages, water leaks, sewer problems and any other utility call that may arise.
