Communication Center

The Communication Center is the public safety answering point (PSAP) for all of Lewis and Clark County, including the cities of Helena and East Helena.

The center dispatches an average of 63,000 calls for service and receives about 94,000 emergency and non-emergency phone calls annually for police, fire, and emergency medical services.  

Mission

Through a strong commitment to excellence, we serve as the vital link between the citizens of Lewis and Clark County and our Public Safety Partners by provided effective, courteous, and professional handling of all emergency and non-emergency communications. 

Staffing

The Communication Center is a multi-agency dispatch center that is staffed 24/7 by professional and highly trained Public Safety Telecommunicators, most commonly referred to as dispatchers. The center dispatches and processes requests for 3 police agencies, 16 fire departments, 3 ambulance services in Lewis and Clark County, and works with several state and federal agencies.  

At any given time, our center may be managing multiple emergency incidents or processing a higher call volume. Our Public Safety Telecommunicators are trained to prioritize phone calls, so please be patient as they are responsible for numerous tasks.  

The Communication Center is administered by the Helena Police Department and managed by a 911 Operations Manager and a 911 Program Manager.

What to expect when you call 911

When you call 911, the first thing you will be asked is to provide the location of the emergency. Our Public Safety Telecommunicators are trained to ask a series of questions that help determine what agency and type of response to send. Our Public Safety Telecommunicators are trained to provide life-saving medical instructions, such as CPR, over the phone before the arrival of responders.  

While the Public Safety Telecommunicator is helping you on the phone, they are dispatching the call, updating responders, and responding to radio traffic.  Answering the Public Safety Telecommunicator's questions over the phone does not delay a response.  

Want to receive emergency notifications?

Creating a SMART 911™ safety profile is the gateway to receiving emergency notifications from public safety officials. Your profile is private and secure. Once the profile is created, the user can voluntarily add as much or as little information as their comfort allows. At a minimum, a physical address and a telephone number are two essential components to receiving targeted emergency alerts. Accessing your profile and refreshing it every six months is vital to keeping your data up to date. Waiting for the next crisis to occur is usually too late to start the registration process. Being prepared is the key.

Click HERE and sign up today to create your public safety profile to receive emergency alerts.

Join Our Team

The Communication Center offers the excitement and pride of a public safety career as a Public Safety Telecommunicator. We invite you to take a Self-Evaluation Questionnaire(PDF, 693KB) and visit Human Resources to review the position description and current openings to see if this career will be a good fit for you. As a Public Safety Telecommunicator you will be offered excellent benefits with the City of Helena. 

Contact the 911 Operations Manager, Zach Slattery at 406-447-8233 or email zslattery@helenamt.gov if you have any questions about the Communication Center.