E9-1-1 moves to attain higher accreditation
June 24, 2015
Charlea Mills
The Barry County E9-1-1 Center is moving ahead with pursuing three different accreditations that would put them in some of the top dispatch centers worldwide after the Board approved the 2015-2016 budget.
As part of the budget, the Board approved $185,000 in maintenance agreements for E91-1 to work toward three separate accreditations for dispatching at the local center. Currently, E9-1-1 is trained for Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) and will be pursing the accreditation through the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch. Added on to that, they will also begin implementing Emergency Firefighter Dispatch (EFD) and Emergency Police Dispatch (EPD) training this fall.
The EMD, EPD and EFD dispatching is a protocol that dispatchers are trained in so that they know how to handle each individual call in a uniform, official way. While dispatchers cover the medical, fire and police calls for the county, the training will make that process more uniform.
Phillips explained, “It’s a protocol that we implement where dispatchers are presented with a script of questions to ask and instructions for each individual emergency.” The standards are set to meet international standards set by professionals from all aspects of each field, whether medical, police or firefighters.
The EMD protocol has already been implemented, and Phillips hopes to be able to make the announcement at the first of next year that they are officially accredited. The review will begin in the fall. The process to become accredited includes a national panel coming in to look over all calls and sign off on everything from six months of data logged, call save times, time to notify Emergency Medical Services, staffing levels, administrative policies, documentation and more.
Phillips said, “It’s a hard accreditation to get, but we’ve worked for it. It’ll signify that we’re in the top ten percent of 9-1-1 centers in the world.”
As part of that, Barry County E9-1-1 might be fully taking over medical dispatch calls. Currently, E9-1-1 routes medical calls to Cox Health dispatch in Springfield since Barry County’s ambulance is through Cox Health.
Phillips told board members, “We had a meeting with Cox in January to discuss some issues, and it was a really positive meeting. We accomplished some things there.” That being said, Phillips still hopes to take over that duty as a 9-1-1 center officially once they earn their accreditation.
Board president Jon Horner pointed out, “It could cause some issues for them (Cox Health) if they lose medical dispatch billing.”
Phillips said, “I’m more concerned with a faster level of service with us taking over medical dispatching.”
As far as the fire and police dispatch training, Phillips hopes that the dispatchers will begin that in the fall. The contract to bring EFD/EPD on board is $99,942. After implementing the protocols and completing training, E9-1-1 will seek accreditation in the same way they are hoping to become accredited for EMD by next year.
Once the center is accredited for each of the three services, the maintenance for all three will only be $13,887 annually. Phillips said he also anticipates around 10 percent in additional training expenses. Dispatchers will have 48 hours of continuing education units (CEUs) every two years to ensure they are up to date on all changes and prepared to handle any number of emergency situation calls.
Phillips said, “We want to move forward with this because we’ll be taking the liability off of us on a local level by using these standards.”
Phillips added, “We will also be able to have quality assurance to know that each individual is getting the same service from their 9-1-1 center.”
Charlea Mills
The Barry County E9-1-1 Center is moving ahead with pursuing three different accreditations that would put them in some of the top dispatch centers worldwide after the Board approved the 2015-2016 budget.
As part of the budget, the Board approved $185,000 in maintenance agreements for E91-1 to work toward three separate accreditations for dispatching at the local center. Currently, E9-1-1 is trained for Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) and will be pursing the accreditation through the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch. Added on to that, they will also begin implementing Emergency Firefighter Dispatch (EFD) and Emergency Police Dispatch (EPD) training this fall.
The EMD, EPD and EFD dispatching is a protocol that dispatchers are trained in so that they know how to handle each individual call in a uniform, official way. While dispatchers cover the medical, fire and police calls for the county, the training will make that process more uniform.
Phillips explained, “It’s a protocol that we implement where dispatchers are presented with a script of questions to ask and instructions for each individual emergency.” The standards are set to meet international standards set by professionals from all aspects of each field, whether medical, police or firefighters.
The EMD protocol has already been implemented, and Phillips hopes to be able to make the announcement at the first of next year that they are officially accredited. The review will begin in the fall. The process to become accredited includes a national panel coming in to look over all calls and sign off on everything from six months of data logged, call save times, time to notify Emergency Medical Services, staffing levels, administrative policies, documentation and more.
Phillips said, “It’s a hard accreditation to get, but we’ve worked for it. It’ll signify that we’re in the top ten percent of 9-1-1 centers in the world.”
As part of that, Barry County E9-1-1 might be fully taking over medical dispatch calls. Currently, E9-1-1 routes medical calls to Cox Health dispatch in Springfield since Barry County’s ambulance is through Cox Health.
Phillips told board members, “We had a meeting with Cox in January to discuss some issues, and it was a really positive meeting. We accomplished some things there.” That being said, Phillips still hopes to take over that duty as a 9-1-1 center officially once they earn their accreditation.
Board president Jon Horner pointed out, “It could cause some issues for them (Cox Health) if they lose medical dispatch billing.”
Phillips said, “I’m more concerned with a faster level of service with us taking over medical dispatching.”
As far as the fire and police dispatch training, Phillips hopes that the dispatchers will begin that in the fall. The contract to bring EFD/EPD on board is $99,942. After implementing the protocols and completing training, E9-1-1 will seek accreditation in the same way they are hoping to become accredited for EMD by next year.
Once the center is accredited for each of the three services, the maintenance for all three will only be $13,887 annually. Phillips said he also anticipates around 10 percent in additional training expenses. Dispatchers will have 48 hours of continuing education units (CEUs) every two years to ensure they are up to date on all changes and prepared to handle any number of emergency situation calls.
Phillips said, “We want to move forward with this because we’ll be taking the liability off of us on a local level by using these standards.”
Phillips added, “We will also be able to have quality assurance to know that each individual is getting the same service from their 9-1-1 center.”
