Crisis Management Dispatch (CMD)

At the very heart of the 9-1-1 Center, exists the Crisis Management Dispatch or CMD. CMD is manned 24 hours a day by RTFC dispatchers.

In the event of a major emergency, the CMD is activated and becomes the central focal point for communicating emergency information during the crisis. This nerve center becomes a resource base to alert and inform the public and is the centralized communications center throughout the emergency.

Crisis Management Dispatch is an efficient and effective arm of our city, county, and Industrial Safety System. This thoroughly modern and seamless system provides the citizens of Nueces County with a comprehensive array of proven Safety tools.

All CMD Dispatchers are trained in firefighting, rescue, medical and hazardous material response.

CMD Daily Activities Include

• Dispatching for RTFC
• Testing and maintaining of public alerting tools such as tone alert boxes, EAS, and Dialogic
• Assist 911 operations
• Document release information from refineries
• Communicating information from industrial facilities to CCPD, CCFD, and county officials

Public Information Tools

The following communications tools are used during Major incidents, Swat events, Major storms, Community service, Community advisements, Damn releases, and Amber alerts.

826-INFO
A pre-recorded message for the public to call for information without tying up a 911 operator.

Communicator
An auto-dialer system that sends a recorded message to a predetermined telephone list.

Geonotify
Uses mapping to call all phones in the selected area and deliver a recorded message.

Emergency Alert System (EAS) System
Sends recorded messages to television and radio stations in the covering the county. At that point it is the individual station's decision to broadcast the information.

Tone Alert Radio

• Used to broadcast live information
• Radios are in all schools in Nueces, San Patricio, and *Kleberg counties. Also in most hospitals
• Can select zones, counties or individual radios to broadcast information.

KLUX Radio Station 89.5

• A recorded message will play at every music break.
• Messages can be updated and rebroadcast

Meteorlogix

• Gives current weather and wind conditions
• Tracks tropical storms
• Tracks storm fronts moving into the area
• Is updated in 5 minute intervals.

On 06 June 1997, RTFC moved its dispatch center to the City of Corpus Christi Police Department headquarters. RTFC operates the CMD Center which is responsible for all Industry/Public Notification activities such as activating warning sirens, special telephone notification systems, and the local emergency radio station AM-620. RTFC also coordinates public sector emergency response to its member company industrial facilities, archive pre-planning and hazardous materials information, and of course, provides dispatch service for the Fire Company. The CMD Center is staffed for 24-hour operation (1 Captain and 2 Firefighters are assigned to the center).