To the Editor:
This letter is in regards to the June 9, 2010 article in the paper about the “Tones Not Set Off for Tornado Warning”.
Again, the Sheriff’s office is left to explain why they haven’t done what is expected of them as public safety officials. First, it was not having enough staff to properly secure the court house, this went unanswered in the press or by the commissioners. Then it was not having enough staff to properly staff the jail, which is mandated under Ohio law, this also went unanswered. Now, the Sheriff is claiming they didn’t receive information from the National Weather Service (NWS) of a Tornado Warning. Then after checking the facts, they later did receive a warning. So the questions are, did or didn’t the Sheriff’s office actually receive the warning? Does the Sheriff’s Office not have a Weather Alert Radio; access to the internet, email or any of the other myriad of telecommunications options available to virtually every American to get news and other official information? What was the dispatcher doing at the time of the NWS notification? On top of that, a lame excuse from the Sheriff (later recanted in another media source as a “miscommunication in the dispatch center”), that the deputy “didn’t understand the difference between a tornado watch and warning and for which one the tones were set off.” This is ridiculous and completely unacceptable! It is your job as a public safety official to know the difference, and if you don’t know the answer, ask someone who does. However, this does raise another question, why did it take the Sheriff nearly a week to find out from the dispatcher “an explanation of what occurred”. Did he only do this as a result of being questioned by the Emergency Management Agency (EMA) director as to what went wrong? Did the Sheriff himself not know a tornado had occurred in the county?
It seems like nobody knows what is going on in the Sheriff’s department. Maybe we (the Sheriff’s office) received a warning, maybe we didn’t, maybe it’s a watch, maybe it’s a warning, maybe I know my job and maybe I don’t. Sounds to me that maybe someone needs to be fired. This dispatcher in question should be at least suspended without pay and reassigned to a less confusing role, not merely “disciplined for lack of action”. That “lack of action” looks to be dereliction of duty and gross incompetence to me. Does anyone remember the dispatching blunder several years ago in which a fire was reported in Harlem Springs and the dispatcher never toned the fire department, relying only on what a friend, the dispatcher called instead of following proper procedure, said he did/didn’t see. Not until after a second call from the original caller, nearly an hour later, stating the structure was fully engulfed was the fire department toned?
It is your job as the elected Sheriff to ensure your staff is properly trained in policies, procedures and protocols, particularly when working in a “dispatch center”. Lives of not only the citizens and visitors to Carroll County are/were at risk, but also the other Public Safety officials (police, fire and EMS) are/were at risk. Seems to be that the Sheriff’s office is placing more and more people at risk because of their policies and procedures or should I say, lack thereof. Fellow Carroll Countians, remember these events at the ballot box.
I praise the concern of the EMA and the local fire chiefs for wanting deserving answers as to why procedures were not followed. It is good to see your concern and desire to keep your residents and jurisdictions safe.

Kyle Lyons, MPH, RN, NREMT-P
Severn, MD

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