State Issues ‘A’ for Center’s Operations

The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency has issued an evaluation of the Bucks County 911 center that found it exceeds state standards for training 911 dispatchers and meets state standards for monitoring quality assurance. The check-up was ordered by the county after woman’s 911 call for help wasn’t answered for almost 30 seconds last January, and then put on hold. The woman, confined to bed, died when her bed caught fire. Six dispatchers were suspended and three supervisors were suspended without pay over the incident. PEMA only analyzed if the center meets state guidelines for training and monitoring quality assurance, and did not look at the handling of the incident itself. Read more about the evaluation here.