‘Today Show’ Investigates Dispatcher Training

on January 7, 2010

During a segment on the “Today Show” Thursday, reporter Jeff Rossen presented the results of a three-month investigation into “a dangerous flaw” in the nation’s 911 system—the lack of training. The report confused basic training for dispatchers, CPR training and EMD training, and mistakenly linked a lack of training standards with insufficient training. The center point of Rossen’s 7-minute video report was the strangulation death of Texas toddler Matthew Cantrell in 2007. The family of the child has sued the city, claiming dispatcher Stephen Williamson failed to give the child’s mother any medical instructions, and that arriving police failed to treat the child. The city has released documents which they say show that Williamson, police officers and firefighters did everything they could to revive the child, who died three days later. The city also said the mother was too hysterical to understand medical instructions from Texas Medical Center.

In the report, Rossen confused a point about dispatchers being “trained in CPR,” instead of being trained to provide emergency medical dispatch (EMD) instructions. A dispatcher trained to perform CPR cannot reliably give CPR instructions to a 911 caller. Only a small percentage of public safety comm centers in the U.S. have been certified by one of two organizations that provide EMD training. In the case of Murphy, dispatchers are not trained in EMD, but transfer medical-related 911 calls to a local hospital for handling. In the Cantrell incident, the dispatcher did transfer the call after dispatching police, fire and EMS units to the family’s home.

Rossen noted that 18 states, “have no 911 training requirements at all.” However, he didn’t explain that some dispatchers in those 18 states may actually be better trained than in states that do have training standards.

“Industry insiders” told Rossen that dispatchers are treated like “receptionists” and are often paid less. APCO president Richard Mirgon appeared on camera to say, “There are communities in this country where 911 dispatchers are getting paid less than people in McDonalds.” He called that situation “frightening,” without explaining why a sub-McDonalds pay rate might affect a dispatcher’s skill level.

Rossen claimed that some comm centers are “so desperate for operators that they have to hire fast-food workers, grocery store clerks, even ex-cons to handle your emergencies.” Rossen’s remark seems to indicate that applicants with these previous occupations are unsuitable for hiring as a dispatcher, no matter what talents and skills they may have.

The report then switched to the subject of funding, noting that most phone bills include 911 fees or surcharges to support 911. Rossen did not note that many state 911 funds are limited by law to pay for the 911 network and local hardware costs, and not dispatcher salaries or training. Rossen did say that at least 12 states have raided their 911 funds and have used the money for other purposes.

Rossen ended his video report with a visit to U.S. Sen. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), co-founder of the 9-1-1 Caucus. She expressed concern for the training issue, and said she will ask for hearings into the issue.

At the end of the piece show host Matt Lauer mentioned that the incident should prompt parents to prepare themselves for emergencies by taking CPR classes, and by teaching their children the proper way to dial 911.