METRO 911 WORKING ON DRUG TEST POLICY

Employees at Kanawha County's Metro 911 center will be subject to
random drug tests under a policy proposed Tuesday.

At a Tuesday meeting of the Metro 911 Executive Board, 911 Director
Carolyn Karr Charnock got the nod to send the drug testing policy to
the board's personnel committee. The committee will write a drug
policy that will be up for a vote on March 21.

Random drug testing for 911 staff was first proposed last year,
Charnock said.

"At Metro 911, everybody in there is dealing with emergencies,"
Charnock said. "We do not currently have random routine testing."

Including part-timers, about 70 people work at the 911 center, in
shifts of about 10 people at a time. While Charnock said she's never
heard of a problem at the center, county officials decided it was a
good idea to make sure 911 dispatchers weren't working while under the
influence of drugs or alcohol.

Details of the policy -- such as how often drug tests will be
administered -- still have to be worked out. Charnock said the
committee will look at drug policies from Chesterfield, Va., the city
of Charleston and a proposed county-wide drug testing policy while
they come up with a proposal that works for Metro 911.

"We'll have several measures for them to look at," she
said.

Charnock said it would be hard for 911 workers to get away with coming
to work under the influence. "We have people sitting within two or
three feet of each other," she said.

Metro 911 officials don't yet know how much drug testing will cost.
Charnock doesn't expect any positive drug tests once the policy is
implemented but said repeated negative drug tests on 911 employees
will be reassuring to the public.