Comments on: State-Wide Comm Center: Speed vs. EMD

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 02:23:10 +0000

There’s more to this story than who is to blame. This is a prime example of the pitfalls of center consolidation. Merging centers can sometimes reduce costs and streamline processes, but far too often it just moves dispatchers (literally the first responders to most emergencies) further and further away from the scene and needlessly detaches them from the resources they manage. Consolidations are far too prone to problems such as dispatchers with no knowledge of the areas they are working, interfaces between the center and the myriad agencies it oversees that don’t work, and ultimately the loss of local agencies and governments to manage their own resources for the unique needs of the community.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 03:51:03 +0000

Tom, that’s not unusual….there is ALWAYS more to the story.

Amen Tracy!

By: Tracey

Tracey — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:48:32 +0000

What a shame that citizens don’t see the huge benefit to their community. EMD is a proven system that saves lives-I’ve been an EMD for over 9 years and can tell you for a fact that my work has saved lives and comforted family members who know that did everything humanly possible for their loved one. Good EMD does not delay responses, it enhances it.

By: Tom Andross

Tom Andross — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:31:08 +0000

Sadly, the article does not tell you the whole story. Some people and organizations, oddly in a specific area of our state, haven’t been able to get over the politics of state-wide 911 since 1995. Our 911 system is a quality, award-winning one used as a model by many. Does it seem strange the first responders quoted in this article didn’t take ANY of the possible blame or credit for their own response times to the scene? Please use caution with the ‘facts’ as presented by the media in this case.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 02:25:17 +0000

Something is not working the way it should. We have been using EMD for nearly 10 years (we’ll be accredited this year) and we dispatch most high priority calls in less that 45 seconds.

My guess….they don’t have a robust Quality Assurance system that provides timely feedback to dispatchers/call takers.

There are two ways to do things…. fist or correct! I THINK everyone would like things to be done correctly….I’d bet any paramedic, if given an opportunity to review EMD, would think all the “questions” (we like to think of it as information gathering) are very legitimate and make perfect sense.