Fulton County hires new 911 and EMA directors

Following interviews and consultation by Ritter Strategic Services, Fulton County Commissioners have extended offers of employment for director positions of 911 Communications and Emergency Management Agency.

Fulton County Commissioners on Monday hired Brittney Thompson as the county's new director of 911 and Dawn Sewell as the new director of the Emergency Management Agency.

Ritter Strategic Services assisted in the hiring process for both positions, which were held by Gail Karas until her retirement on July 5.

"I worked with the county's HR director, Christina (Haughs), to update the job descriptions and post those jobs according to county policy," Ritter said. "I can't say enough good about Christina and the work that she did to help facilitate that entire process up through the interviews."

Both positions were posted on July 23. There were five applicants for the 911 director position and six for EMA. A couple applicants applied for both positions. 

Commissioners met in executive session Aug. 16 and interviewed two candidates for the 911 director position. Ritter noted there was a great deal of discussion about their experience, training and certifications, as well as their goals and objectives in managing the county's dispatch center into the future. 

A recommendation to hire Thompson was unanimously approved. With her being a former employee of the dispatch center, Ritter said there should be no issue in her renewing her certifications for the director position in a timely manner. 

Brittney Thompson

"I miss it, so here I am," said Thompson, who worked for the dispatch center from 2007 to 2021 and was once its assistant director. She is married to County Councilman Chayse Thompson, and they have a 9-year-old daughter, Rhemi. Most recently, she worked for Jennings Insurance Agency. 

She says she looks forward to building a family-like atmosphere and relationships between herself and other departments, all working together to help save lives. 

She'll also be heavily involved in transitioning to a central dispatch center, answering emergency calls for the Rochester Police Department on a full-time basis. 

"I think it's been a long time coming," she said of the transition, especially given that the city has now joined the county on its computer-aided dispatch software through Spillman Technologies. 

She also plans to bring back dispatching for medical calls, which the county's new ambulance provider Parkview EMS has been handling from its dispatch center.

"I'm just blessed to be in this position to take over, and I'm looking forward to working with the community and just bringing awareness to 911," Thompson said. 

On Aug. 16, the county's EMA Advisory Board met and interviewed two candidates for the director position. Sewell, who has been the county's deputy EMA director since coming on in February emerged as the board's recommendation. Her promotion was unanimously approved by commissioners.

Dawn Sewell, Fulton County's new Emergency Management Agency director, shakes hands with Commissioner Dave Sommers following her promotion from deputy director. 

Sewell resides at Nyona Lake after moving from Howard County roughly two years ago. She has three adult children, the time to dedicate to the position and experience in both fire and emergency medical services.

She became involved in EMA after meeting Karas as a vendor at Mustard Seed Mercantile in downtown Rochester. 

"She knew my background just from talking and offered me a position," Sewell said. "It's worked out great. I love it and have been taking care of it for the last two months."

She added that she's excited to engage the county's 20-plus EMA volunteers and work with district liaisons. 

"I've had some really good training from my background, and I'm excited to take it over fully," she said. 

She noted Karas is staying on as a volunteer for EMA, in addition to continuing to serve as deputy county coroner.

"What I'd like to improve on is interaction within the county for the EMA and its volunteers, to be utilized more so than what we have been," she said, adding particularly for emergency callouts. "That's something Brittney and I will be working on is protocol, when do her dispatchers call out EMA."

She said she also wants to make sure that volunteers are trained the same across the board. She'll also handle safety plans and will participate in discussion about cybersecurity for the upcoming election.

Sewell took over the full-time EMA director position on Tuesday, and Thompson's official start date is Sept. 9. The assistant 911 director position continues to be held by Krista Sutton, and the deputy EMA director position is yet to be filled.