KTKA

Riley County is the only area of its population size in Kansas to not have a consolidated center.

The county has five emergency services which include: Manhattan Fire Department, Riley County Fire District #1, Riley County Emergency Medical Services, the Riley County Police Department and the Kansas State University Police Department.

Right now, the RCPD takes dispatch calls then sends them to the emergency service needed and they dispatch their own units.

Riley County EMS Director Larry Couchman says the problem with this system is that places like the fire department and emergency medical service don’t have their own dispatchers.

"When we have EMS calls, one of our crew members actually does the dispatching of the resources," he said. "At the point where we have 3 ambulances on the street, we no longer can provide the dispatch function so we have to go back to the police department and have them dispatch for us."

He says it's also not as efficient because the crew members aren't trained dispatchers.

The RCPD already has the equipment for consolidation, but funding would be needed to pay for more dispatchers.

The Riley County emergency services have been working on the consolidation for years and presented it to the Law Board Monday.

The city and county commissioners will discuss the consolidation in January.