Emergency Management / Communications / Fire Districts
The Neshoba County Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is a multi-functional agency whose primary duty is to prepare, respond and recover from several types of natural, man-made and technological disasters that may occur in Neshoba County. These disasters include severe weather emergencies such as large thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, large fires and hazardous materials incidents. This agency serves as a data collection point for facilities in our county that manufacture and/or store hazardous materials. The location and type of these materials is important to know in case of a large fire or explosion. We also serve as a support agency for other county departments as well as assisting municipalities as needed. We are the liaison agency between the cities and county to the State of Mississippi and the Federal Government in case of a major disaster.
On a daily basis, Neshoba County Emergency Management provides addresses to the unincorporated areas of the county in order to maintain a database for the 911 system. When someone dials 911, the 911 Emergency communications PSAP (public safety answering point) within our county receives the call with this address data on a screen to facilitate the dispatch of required assistance. With this information available, the dispatcher may still send help to a location even if the caller is unable to speak or the connection is lost. The Neshoba County 911 Communications was established in 1995 with the construction of the Neshoba County Law Enforcement Center at 920 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. The center receives and handles all 911 calls for the City of Philadelphia and the unincorporated area of Neshoba County. This center is equipped with computer weather monitoring and warning systems that are designed to provide Neshoba County Citizens with prompt and accurate warning notifications.
The Neshoba County Emergency Management Agency serves as the coordinating agency for fire protection in the unincorporated areas of Neshoba County. The network of twelve (12) Fire Protection District serves resident of Neshoba County. This network consists of over 20 stations with a group of almost 300 volunteer firefighters and emergency responders. Since 1993 The Neshoba County Fire Service in cooperation with each of the Fire Protection Districts has purchased 17 new class A Fire Trucks to provide protection to the citizens of Neshoba County.
Fire Protection Districts:
- Countyline
- House
- Hope
- Linwood
- Dixon
- Tucker
- Fairview
- Arlington
- East Neshoba
- Stallo
- Longino
- Northbend
Jeff Mayo
Emergency Management Director
Neshoba County Emergency Management
11901 Highway 15 North
Philadelphia, MS 39350
Phone: 601-656-3121
Fax: 601-656-3343
E-mail: emergency@neshobacounty.netEmergency Communications
Tammy Adkins
Communications Supervisor
920 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, MS 39350
Phone: 601-650-3283
Fax: 601-650-3281
E-mail emergency@neshobacounty.netNeshoba County 911 Center Receives CAD System
Neshoba County's emergency communications office has received an upgrade that will improve its efficiency by installing a computer-assisted dispatching (CAD) system.
The new system will record important information about all 911 calls the county receives, and will allow dispatchers and emergency responders to do their job more accurately and efficiently without a need for pen and paper, officials said.
The CAD system will allow emergency dispatchers to store this emergency dispatch information with the assistance of a computer that uses a server located in the central dispatch office. Dispatchers here currently record information about emergency responses manually, using paper and pen.
"With this new system everything will be on an on-line service system," said Jeff Mayo, director of Neshoba County Emergency Management. "It will give us the capability to generate automatic reports with all the information we need to respond to an emergency."
He said things like addresses, times of incidents, and names of callers will be stored permanently in a database. The system will also provide unit recommendations for each call such as law enforcement, fire departments or ambulance, among others. If a call comes from the same number more than once in a period of 30 days, information about the previous call will appear as well.
"The computer will be able to make recommendations about what units to send to each call based on the type of incident that is reported," Mayo said. "It will send automatic notifications to various emergency response entities depending on the type of call it is."
When emergency calls are handled manually like they are now, a 911 dispatcher determines what kind of units to send to each incident and information is recorded on paper. With CAD, a computer will be responsible for these things.
"This technology will speed up our response time and bring our already state-of-the-art 911 system even more up to date," said Sheriff Donnie Adkins.
"Having information about a caller before we get to the scene will help emergency responders a ton."
In some cases, the CAD system can even be used to send a text message to a cell phone, providing information about a call.
To attain the system, Neshoba's 911 dispatch center had to install CAD software, a server and other components to make it operable. Dispatchers received additional training to learn how to use the new equipment.
This upgrade will cost a total of $130,516. The county received a Homeland Security grant for $19,740 to cover some of the cost, and has also applied for other grants to help pay for the project, Mayo said.
"We have wanted a CAD for a number of years," he said. "This will be new for us and may take some time to get used to, but in the long run it will make things easier and more efficient for our dispatchers and responders."
