Smarter Dispatching for Scarborough Fire Response
March 26, 2026 by Kate Nadolski
Speed and accuracy are a critical component of emergency dispatching. But when staffing changes frequently, keeping track of the right response can become a challenge.
The Town of Scarborough, Maine Public Safety Communications Center supports two fire departments serving a growing community along Maine’s southern coast.
As call volume increased and staffing models evolved, dispatchers needed a more reliable way to manage complex response plans.
Public safety agencies in Scarborough operated with operated with a mix of staffing configurations and cross-staffed apparatus.
Units and personnel changed depending on time of day, call type, and available staffing.
Scarborough’s previous computer-aided dispatch system could not support dynamic run cards or adaptive pre-plans. Dispatchers often relied on memory to determine which resources should respond to specific calls.
“Because the system couldn’t account for staffing changes, dispatchers had to keep a lot of information in their heads,” said Emergency Communications Manager Joseph Thornton. “That sometimes led to delayed notifications or the wrong resources being sent initially.”
The department implemented Tyler’s Enterprise Public Safety suite and the Enterprise CAD solution within.
The agency is now able to embed staffing logic directly into dispatch workflows. Cross-staffing assignments, call-type prioritization, and geofencing automatically update run cards and apparatus availability in real-time.
Dispatchers no longer need to manually determine which resources should respond. Instead, the CAD system adjusts recommendations based on the current staffing model and location of the incident.
“The system removes a lot of the guesswork,” Thornton said. “Dispatchers can trust that the run cards reflect what resources are actually available at that moment.”
Dispatch accuracy and consistency have improved with automated response planning, reducing incorrect or revised dispatches and minimizing delays caused by manual decision-making.
Fire leadership can now adjust staffing levels at any time, with the CAD system instantly recalculating response plans and apparatus availability.
That flexibility proved particularly valuable during a recent expansion of 24/7 career staffing. Response plans, districts, and alerting procedures were updated within the system without disrupting daily operations.
“We were able to make major changes to staffing and response plans without slowing down dispatch,” Thornton said. “The system adapts quickly as our department evolves.”
This functionality has proven to be significant, especially as agencies are experiencing trends of high turnover and challenges with staff training across the nation.
Built-in analytics also provide leaders with clearer insight into call volume, coverage areas, and response performance. The information helps guide decisions about staffing levels, deployment strategies, and emergency response facilitation.
Scarborough’s agencies and fire departments are now operating with a more consistent and effective approach to dispatching help to emergency situations, all aimed at keeping communities and officers both safer and stronger.