Dennis Poland, who earlier served as a member of Wabash County’s (Ind.) first 911 Board back in 1996, has been hired once again as E911 Coordinator by the county's Emergency Telephone System Board (ETSB).

Recently, Poland worked with the Richland County 911 dispatch center and according to 911 Board Chairman Charles Sanders was one of many strong candidates vying for the position.

The ETSB confirmed that in total it had received nine applications for the post, which was vacant due to the sudden resignation on August 9 of former Wabash County E911 Coordinator Colby Rigg, who had been in that role since July 2005.

Soon after Rigg resigned, the ETSB announced that a criminal investigation will be carried out by the Illinois State Police into the financial operations of the Wabash County ETSB – the E911 Coordinator is the sole employee of the ETSB.

Sanders said that Poland will take his new post next month. The newly-hired E911 Coordinator has in-depth knowledge of the emergency phone system in its formative years and he is also a former ambulance service coordinator in Wabash County.

Sanders also confirmed that the Illinois State Police financial audit and investigation are continuing.

Recently, TMCnet Contributing Editor Susan Campbell discussed how RedSky (News - Alert) E911 is offering improved response in Fairfax County, Va.

“Fairfax County in Virginia recognized the need for E911 when a resident was killed in 2005,” Campbell reported. “The individual had stepped into an elevator, which dropped and trapped her between the elevator and the shaft. The impact killed her. First responders went to two different buildings before they arrived at the right one. Their delay did not contribute to her death, but could have in other situations.”

E911 solutions, such as those offered by RedSky, can now connect a 9-1-1 call to any Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in the U.S. As a hosted service, E911 is emerging as the solution for distributed enterprises seeking to adopt a datacenter approach for IP telephony.