CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A new online call log set up by Kanawha County's Metro 911 center is designed to give area residents and news outlets up-to-the-minute information on 911 emergency calls throughout the county, said the center's director, Carolyn Karr Charnock.

"It makes available to the public what calls we have going on and what calls we've recently cleared," she said. "It also gives notifications on media releases, in terms of road closures, outages."

The center has already had a siren alert system that sends out e-mails about emergency calls of interest to the media, said Kanawha Commission President Kent Carper.

"After I initiated the siren system, which I thought was pretty progressive, [the media] requested we upgrade," he said. "911 in conjunction with law enforcement has a responsibility to not only dispatch but to make the public aware."

The online call log has also has a map that will show viewers exactly where a call is located.

Charnock said that the goal is to eventually have the system set up so you can click on different calls on the map and find out what's going on. The log will also eventually have information about what happened on the call, whether there were injuries in car accidents or whether a house fire call is really a house fire.

More improvements are planned for 2009, she said.

"Our IT department has been working long and hard on the addressing and mapping project," Charnock said. "This is one of its first public uses."

Medical calls will not be included in the log, along with calls that may jeopardize an investigation, she said.

"This is something that will help us get the information out, and it should help cut the number of incoming calls [from media outlets] to the center," Charnock said. "When there is something big going on, we are at our busiest."

Balancing the need to get information to the public, and taking care of the emergency at hand is always a balance, Carper said.

Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 348-5163.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A new online call log set up by Kanawha County's Metro 911 center is designed to give area residents and news outlets up-to-the-minute information on 911 emergency calls throughout the county, said the center's director, Carolyn Karr Charnock.

"It makes available to the public what calls we have going on and what calls we've recently cleared," she said. "It also gives notifications on media releases, in terms of road closures, outages."

The center has already had a siren alert system that sends out e-mails about emergency calls of interest to the media, said Kanawha Commission President Kent Carper.

"After I initiated the siren system, which I thought was pretty progressive, [the media] requested we upgrade," he said. "911 in conjunction with law enforcement has a responsibility to not only dispatch but to make the public aware."

The online call log has also has a map that will show viewers exactly where a call is located.

Charnock said that the goal is to eventually have the system set up so you can click on different calls on the map and find out what's going on. The log will also eventually have information about what happened on the call, whether there were injuries in car accidents or whether a house fire call is really a house fire.

More improvements are planned for 2009, she said.

"Our IT department has been working long and hard on the addressing and mapping project," Charnock said. "This is one of its first public uses."

Medical calls will not be included in the log, along with calls that may jeopardize an investigation, she said.

"This is something that will help us get the information out, and it should help cut the number of incoming calls [from media outlets] to the center," Charnock said. "When there is something big going on, we are at our busiest."

Balancing the need to get information to the public, and taking care of the emergency at hand is always a balance, Carper said.

Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 348-5163.