Week 21 of 52: Personal Training + WCCCA (Dispatch Center)

One, or more new things per week for the 2013 year...

Week  21 of 52 (May 20^th, 2013 to May 26^th, 2013): Personal Training + WCCCA (Dispatch Center)

                This week seemed to be more on track with my original “vision” of doing “new” things every week. I had the opportunity to tour and learn more about the 911 Dispatch Center in Washington County and got a FREE Personal Training Session!

                First I visited “WCCCA” which stands for “Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency” or 911 Dispatch Center for ease…

                “WCCCA (wă-kŭ) was formed in 1985, under the authority of Oregon Revised Statues (ORS) 190 by the execution of an Intergovernmental Agreement originally between Washington County and the cities of Beaverton, Cornelius, Hillsboro, North Plains, and Washington County Rural Fire Protection Districts Nos. 1 (now Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, TVF&R), and 2. WCCCA subsequently entered into intergovernmental agreements with the cities of Banks, Durham, Forest Grove, King City, Sherwood, Tigard, Gaston, and Tualatin. Subsequent Fire Districts joining the agency are Banks, Cornelius, Forest Grove, and Gaston.” (http://www.wccca.com/about/)

Before 1973 there really were no dispatchers in Washington County, which meant that Police or Fire would have to answer the call, this lead to the formation of WCCCA, which now operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, answering 9-1-1 and non-emergency calls from residents of Washington County and dispatches for 10 police agencies and 7 fire agencies. The Agency’s service area is 819 square miles and their service population is 586,727. I got to learn how the calls are taken and how Police and/or EM/Fire is then radio dispatched to serve us.

A few interesting things I learned; If you call 911 from your Cell you get a recording. If you call 911 from a land line you get INSTANTLY connected to a dispatcher. So having a land-line is a good thing! While I was there I also learned about Crime Prevention and things we can do to prevent crime or help recover from a crime.

If you have equipment or valuables… engrave or write your name on it! This makes stealing and re-selling your property much harder for thieves. Also keep logs of everything you have with serial numbers (if possible) for insurance purposes and for help recovering your stolen property.

                Also if you are EVER in doubt as to whether your situation is a true emergency or not… just call 911, don’t hesitate. But if you decide that you need to call non-emergency within Washington County… Dial: (503) 629-0111.

To end my week I went to see a Personal Trainer, and it was very eye opening and very uplifting. The trainer helped me to believe that my goals of weight loss and fitness were with in my reach. I have a Body Fat Percentage of 29.47% and a lean mass of 70.53% which means that my ideal weight would be 190-200 lbs. Currently I am at about 238 lbs, which means I need to lose around 40 lbs, and that would put me at a Body Fat Percentage of 10%. So here comes my next challenge, to get to 200 lbs by the end of this year.

Until next week!