States Score ‘F’ On Human Resource Needs

The 50 states have failed to provide support for the human resource needs of the country’s public safety communications centers, according to an interim study by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO), resulting in an “F” grade. The study results were released at the group’s recent annual conference in Texas, and included a compilation of each state’s initial and on-going training requirements, implementation of emergency medical dispatch (EMD) and retirement benefits. The APCO committee members said the poor grade didn’t reflect on the quality of work by individual comm centers, but rather the the legislative, regulatory and work environments within the states. “The preliminary findings in this progress report should raise concern in every locality and state in the country,” the report states. “It should raise awareness and concern to legislatures both at the state and federal levels.” Download (pdf) the report here.