Columbia 9-1-1 Communications District

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Columbia 9-1-1 Communications District

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Welcome to the official page of the Columbia 9-1-1 Communications District. Your safety is our top priority. Requests for service CANNOT be made via this site.

At Columbia 9-1-1 Communications District, we are committed to keeping our communities safe, connected, and protected - every second, every call, every day. At Columbia 9-1-1 Communications District, our mission is to ensure that every resident and visitor in Columbia County has immediate access to emergency services when it matters most. Serving as the essential link between the community and first responders, we are dedicated to providing fast, reliable, and professional 9-1-1 dispatch services. Our dedicated team works around the clock to connect the community to law enforcement, fire districts, medical personnel, and essential community services - because everyone deserves to feel safe, protected, and cared for in our community. PLEASE CALL 9-1-1 TO REPORT AN EMERGENCY

This site IS NOT monitored on a full time basis.

10/26/2026

JOINT MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT

The Columbia 9-1-1 Communications District invites the public to learn more about the important work behind our emergency communications system at the upcoming Joint Board of Directors and Advisory Committee Meeting.

These public meetings provide an opportunity to gain insight into how 9-1-1 services are supported, how district leadership and advisory members work together, and the vital role emergency communications play in public safety.

👥 Interested in learning more about your 9-1-1 system? We encourage you to attend!

📅 Find the meeting date, time, location, and agenda here: 🔗 https://www.columbia911.com/general/meeting/joint-board-directors-and-advisory-committee-meeting-2

We look forward to continued collaboration and community engagement in support of public safety!

10/19/2026

🌲 MONDAY MORNING 9-1-1 POP QUIZ | LOST IN THE WOODS

You realize you’re lost. Your instinct might be to keep moving until something looks familiar - but once you’ve called 9-1-1, staying put in a safe location can help us find you.

Your phone is an important tool in a search, but location technology is only one piece of the puzzle. Your Columbia 9-1-1 dispatcher may ask about trails, roads, landmarks, waterways, terrain, how long you’ve been walking, or what you can hear around you.

📱 Behind the scenes, we can continue working to narrow your location, document where responders have searched, and help coordinate the information coming from the field. We may even ask you to listen for sirens to help searchers determine whether they’re getting closer.

🔋 Conserve your phone battery, keep your phone available, and tell us if you have to move because your location becomes unsafe.

🥾 Dispatcher Tip: Well-meaning friends and family heading into the woods can create additional people who need help. Leave the search to Columbia County Search and Rescue and follow the instructions from your dispatcher and responders.

You are not alone on the other end of that call - we’re working with responders to bring you home.

Join us next Monday for another Monday Morning 9-1-1 Pop Quiz!

10/15/2026

🚨 THE TRAINING DOESN'T STOP WHEN FTEP ENDS

Throughout our Training Behind the Headset series, we have taken you behind the scenes of what it takes to prepare a new Communications Specialist for independent duty at Columbia 9-1-1.

But what happens after they graduate from field training?

The learning continues throughout their career.

Technology evolves. Policies and protocols change. The needs of our community and public safety partners continue to grow. Staying prepared means keeping pace.

Continuing education and professional development are essential parts of the 9-1-1 profession. State certification requirements and national professional standards help guide that ongoing training.

At Columbia 9-1-1, our Professional Development and Continuing Education Program (PCEP) provides a structured approach to maintaining certifications, strengthening operational skills, and developing our Communications Specialists beyond their initial training.

🤝 AND WE DON'T DO IT ALONE.

Through partnerships with the Lower Columbia Region Training Officers Association (LCRTOA) and our law enforcement, fire, and EMS partners, we share instructors, expertise, and training opportunities across agencies.

These partnerships strengthen coordination, expand learning opportunities, and help prepare the professionals who work together when our community needs them most.

From daily training bulletins and practical exercises to specialized instruction and joint training events, professional development takes many forms.

Because being prepared isn't a one-time achievement. It's an ongoing responsibility.

We are proud of the commitment our Communications Specialists and public safety partners make to learning, improving, and serving Columbia County.

10/12/2026

🔥 MONDAY MORNING 9-1-1 POP QUIZ | HOME FIRE SAFETY

When you call 9-1-1 for a house fire, one of the most important things we need to know is: Is everyone out?

That answer can immediately change the information responding firefighters need. If someone may still be inside, dispatchers may ask where they were last seen, where they could be located in the home, and about other hazards responders could encounter.

🚒 While we’re asking questions, help is already being coordinated. Your answers give responding crews valuable information before they arrive.

🏠 Get out and stay out. Once you are safely outside, never re-enter a burning structure for belongings or pets. Tell your dispatcher if anyone - or any animals - may still be inside.

📞 Dispatcher Tip: You don’t have to know what information we need. Stay somewhere safe, answer the questions as best you can, and your 9-1-1 dispatcher will guide you through the call.

Join us next Monday for another Monday Morning 9-1-1 Pop Quiz!

10/07/2026

TRAINING BEHIND THE HEADSET | FTEP

Finishing the classroom is only the beginning. Before a new Columbia 9-1-1 Communications Specialist is ready for independent duty, they spend months learning how to turn knowledge into performance - one call, one radio transmission, and one decision at a time.

Our Field Training & Evaluation Program (FTEP) combines classroom education with intensive, side-by-side training on the dispatch floor. Recruits progress through Foundational, Intermediate, and Sign-Off phases while working with Certified Training Officers who teach, coach, observe, and evaluate their development.

Along the way, progress is measured through weekly knowledge checks, Daily Observation Reports, skills and practical assessments, and final evaluation. Time matters - but simply completing a certain number of weeks isn't enough. Progress is proven through performance.

And while statewide training provides an important foundation, much of what a Columbia 9-1-1 dispatcher needs to know is uniquely local. That's why we develop training materials, exercises, task guides, and quick-reference tools around the systems, responders, geography, policies, and procedures our Communications Specialists use every day.

The goal isn't perfection on day one.

It's preparing a new Communications Specialist to demonstrate the entry-level knowledge, skills, judgment, and consistency required to serve independently - with the foundation to keep developing throughout their career.

Trusted training. Prepared people. Ready to serve.

📞 On the next segment of Training Behind the Headset: What happens after FTEP? We'll take a look at continuing education and how training continues long after a dispatcher is released to independent duty.

10/05/2026

🌲 MONDAY MORNING 9-1-1 POP QUIZ | FALL ROAD HAZARDS

A tree is down across the roadway. You call 9-1-1 - but have you ever wondered why your dispatcher asks the questions they do?

Your answers help Columbia 9-1-1 determine what resources may be needed. Depending on the situation, we may be coordinating law enforcement, road crews, the PUD, traffic control, or even a full detour.

📍 Where is the hazard?
🚧 How much of the roadway is blocked?
🌲 How large is the tree?
⚡ Are power lines involved?

Until responders arrive, you are our eyes and ears. The information you provide helps us start coordinating the response before anyone reaches the scene.

📞 Dispatcher Tip: You don’t need to memorize what information to give us or what order to give it in. Stay somewhere safe, answer the questions as best you can, and your dispatcher will guide you through the call.

How did you do this week? Join us next Monday for another Monday Morning 9-1-1 Pop Quiz!

10/02/2026

Building Excellence in Training at Columbia 9-1-1

For the past couple weeks, we’ve been showing you what it takes to train a 9-1-1 professional at Columbia 9-1-1. Today, we’re proud to recognize the people helping make that training possible.

Columbia 9-1-1’s Certified Training Officer Team has received the 2025 Commitment to Excellence Award from the Oregon Chapter of APCO-NENA.

Over the past three years, our training teams have worked to rebuild and strengthen our entire training program creating a more structured and consistent training process, developing new training materials and assessments, strengthening mentorship and accountability, and continually evaluating how we can better prepare new dispatchers for the realities of the job.

That work matters far beyond our 9-1-1 center. Every new dispatcher must learn to answer emergency calls, communicate over multiple public safety radio channels, use complex technology, understand local geography, make decisions under pressure, and support law enforcement, fire and EMS responders throughout Columbia County.

Behind each of those new professionals is a trainer who teaches, demonstrates, observes, coaches, evaluates - and eventually steps back as that trainee becomes ready to serve independently.

This year’s award recognizes:

Training and Certification Coordinator, K. Focht
Lead Dispatcher & Sign-Off Trainer, B. Brogli
Lead Dispatcher & Sign-Off Trainer, R. Newman
Intermediate Phase Trainer, D. Duran
Intermediate Phase Trainer, F. Wilson
Foundational Phase Trainer, J. Warren
Foundational Phase Trainer, K. Hughes

We are incredibly proud of what this team has built together and grateful to the Oregon Chapter of APCO-NENA for recognizing their commitment to training, mentorship, continuous improvement and the 9-1-1 profession.

Most importantly, we’re proud of what this work means here at home: better training helps build capable, confident 9-1-1 professionals who are prepared to serve Columbia County when you need them most.

Congratulations to our training team! ❤️🏆

10/01/2026

🚨 SEPTEMBER 2026 | ANSWERING THE CALL 🚨

September kept Columbia County's public safety system moving - and not every call for service started with a phone call.

During September, Columbia 9-1-1 Communications District handled:

📞 7,246 total phone calls
☎️ 1,955 9-1-1 calls and texts
🚔 5,313 law enforcement calls for service
🚒🚑 978 fire and EMS calls
🚦 847 traffic stops

That last number caught our attention.

Our law enforcement partners conducted 169 more traffic stops than in August - an increase of nearly 25% in just one month! 🚔

Great work by the officers and deputies out on Columbia County roadways, staying alert, taking action, and using enforcement and education to help keep our roads and communities safe!

And while those stops are initiated by law enforcement, they also highlight something important about the work happening behind the scenes at your 9-1-1 center.

Every traffic stop puts a dispatcher on the other end of the radio. Dispatchers document the stop, run license plates and driver information, relay information, monitor radio traffic, and remain ready to coordinate additional resources when needed.

That means our workload isn't measured by the number of times the phone rings alone. Calls for service, traffic stops, radio transmissions, responder requests, and emergency incidents all become part of the activity our dispatchers manage throughout each shift.

Throughout September, 12 certified dispatchers and 2 dispatchers in training worked around the clock to connect our community and public safety partners - supporting law enforcement, fire, and EMS operations throughout Columbia County.

Every 9-1-1 call. Every call for service. Every traffic stop. Every responder on the radio.

When Columbia County calls, we answer.

09/30/2026

Before the headset comes the classroom.

New Columbia 9-1-1 Communications Specialists don’t begin their training by simply sitting down and answering 9-1-1 calls.

Our In-House Academy introduces recruits to the much larger public safety system they are preparing to become part of - from emergency medical dispatch, CPR and First Aid to emergency management, hazardous incidents, information security, responder operations, local agencies, and Columbia County geography.

That education also leaves the classroom. Geography tours and responder ride-alongs help trainees connect what they study with the communities, roads, resources, and public safety partners they will eventually support from behind the headset.

And that’s only the introduction.

Swipe through for a look inside the In-House Academy.

Next week on Training Behind the Headset: Welcome to FTEP - where recruits begin applying what they’ve learned through structured, supervised, hands-on training.

09/28/2026

🚌 MONDAY MORNING 9-1-1 POP QUIZ | SCHOOL BUS EMERGENCIES

School is back in session, buses are on the road, and this week we’re testing one of the most important things to know when calling 9-1-1:

📍 Where are you?

If you witness an emergency involving a school bus, start with the location of the emergency, then tell us what happened.

Once we know where help is needed and what is happening, Columbia 9-1-1 dispatchers can continue asking questions while the appropriate response is being coordinated. We may ask about injuries, vehicles involved, road blockage, or other details responders need.

Those questions aren’t delaying help - they’re helping us provide responders with important information while they’re on their way.

📞 Dispatcher Tip: Whether you’re reporting a crash, fire, medical emergency, or another incident, knowing your location is one of the most important pieces of information you can give 9-1-1.

➡️ What is your closest cross street?
➡️ Can you see numbers on a house or mail box?
➡️ Do you know what mile post you are at if you are on a highway?

How did you do on this week’s quiz?

Address

58611 McNulty Way
Saint Helens, OR
97051

Telephone

+15033971521

Website

http://www.columbia911.com/, https://www.youtube.com/@columbia911/featured, https://www.instagram.com/columbia911communi

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