HAMLIN, WV — Lincoln County’s 911 director, Allen Holder, recently provided a comprehensive briefing to the county commission on 911 telephony procedures in the event of a phone outage.

Holder spoke at the Thursday, November 3, 2011 regular session of the commission in Hamlin. The director provided a historical overview of how outages in the county have been handled in the past. He told the commission of the reciprocal arrangement with Boone County, to where 911 calls are diverted in the event of an outage in Lincoln.

The matter was being discussed after concerns had been raised regarding the level of awareness in the community of how to contact 911 in the event of a phone outage.

Holder also spoke about the problem of copper theft in Lincoln County and how this affects telephone service. “Most of our outages are copper related,” said the director. He said that alarm systems have been placed on communication sites in the county. Nonetheless, the 778 exchange is where most of copper related outages seem to be happening, according to Holder.

The director discussed with the commission various options pertaining to contacting 911 in the event of a general phone outage. He noted that the county’s Crime Watch units have radio units. It is hoped that a meeting in the near future with the Crime Watch representatives will lead to the preparation of an up-to-date list of who is in possession of those radios. Those persons could then be contacted at the time of an outage in order to radio a call back to the 911 center.

David Webb, who had raised the matter at a previous meeting of the commission, clarified with Holder that the county’s VFDs have a person on standby at the county’s firehouses at the time of an outage. Holder confirmed that this is case. However, Webb suggested that the general public was unaware of that procedure. Publicizing the procedures, as well as the information on who has the radios, was also discussed during the commission meeting. A brochure on the topic may also be prepared and circulated to the public.

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