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Taker or Dispatcher were trained to provide pre -arrival instructions before the paramedics and <br />ambulance arrived on scene. <br />The proliferation of 9-1-1 services, products, training and staffing has escalated, perhaps faster <br />and with more intensity than any other phase of public safety in the past few years. These <br />advances in public safety, coupled with the public's increasing awareness, have established and <br />created a "Level of Public Expectation" and citizens now expect professional, timely responses <br />to their calls for help which include medical information as to assistance which can be provided <br />to victims before an ambulance arrives on scene. <br />The main impetus leading to this recognition is the birth of the "One Nation, One Number" 9-1-1 <br />with its primary focus on a particular function of public safety, the dispatch function. The calls <br />for help that come into a dispatch center have been receiving unprecedented media attention and <br />intense scrutiny by attorneys for victims and/or their families. In the past, attorneys used to <br />generally seek subpoenas only for police officers and witnesses to an incident; now they first <br />subpoena the 9-1-1 dispatch tape and other call information. <br />Staff from the two agencies is recommending emergency medical dispatching for the following <br />reasons: <br />• Decrease response time to "zero minutes" with implementation of pre -arrival <br />instructions. Patient care would begin as soon as a call for medical assistance is <br />received in the communications center. . <br />• Make EMD part of the "chain of patient care" and improve patient outcome <br />through the delivery of pre -arrival instructions. <br />• Improve the accuracy and appropriateness of caller interrogation. <br />• Reduce burnout and stress-related anxiety by improving information relayed to field <br />responders. <br />• Better management and identification of true medical emergencies through the use <br />of medically approved guidecards. <br />• Reduce multiple unit responses and the use of lights and sirens on every call, <br />thereby reducing the risk of emergency vehicle accidents; and the appropriate <br />resources would be sent in the correct manner. <br />Implementation of emergency medical dispatching does not require additional staffing at the <br />9-1-1 Communications Center. It does require that dispatchers receive 32 hours of formal <br />training in an approved EMD Training Course wherein they become certified by successfully <br />completing a written and practical examination at the end of the training course. Emergency <br />Medical Dispatchers and Instructors must provide proof of 24 hours of Continuing Dispatch <br />Education every two years to recertify (12 hours per year) which can be done in-house with group <br />training. <br />The following steps would need to be taken in order to implement Emergency Medical <br />Dispatching (EMD) at the 9-1-1 Communications Center: <br />April 28, 1998 <br />68 <br />