Foul Odor Sickens Fla. Dispatch Center Employees

March 23--Broward County is dealing with a mystery: What has sickened seven employees at one of its three 911 call centers?

"There was a foul odor reported," said Brett Bayag, acting director of the Office of Regional Communications and Technology.

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue was called about 5 p.m. Tuesday to the 911 center in that city, at 6057 SW 198 Terrace.

"A couple of dispatchers complained of an allergic reaction or feeling sick," said Ruben Troncoso, division chief of operations for Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue.

The agency looked over seven dispatchers or call takers and took two of them to Memorial Hospital Miramar to be treated for scatchy throats and other complaints, he said.

The staff at the Pembroke Pines dispatch center were moved to work out of one of the county's other two rented facilities, in Sunrise and Coconut Creek.

"We have multiple centers, each of which is designed to have the capacity for multiple dispatchers and call takers in the event of a natural disaster or something like this," Bayag said.

A company was brought in Wednesday to test the environment inside the call center.

A preliminary report from the air quality tests delivered Thursday "came back negative, all within normal limits," and officials are awaiting a final report, Troncoso said.

ljtrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta

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