If you are interested in participating in this landmark study, please send an e-mail to tmhrlab@niu.edu providing your name, contact number, agency and the category you are registering for (trainee or experienced).

You will be contacted for a pre-screening and routed to the correct survey.

Please register today!

An internal audit shows that while Atlanta’s emergency response center has made significant progress in answering most 911 calls within 10 seconds, it needs to do more to ensure greater staffing during the center’s busiest times.

City Auditor Leslie Ward said simple fixes such as changing shift schedules and reducing overtime could go a long way in making the department better and more cost-efficient.

City officials agreed with all the recommendations in the audit and set a timetable of six to 12 months to implement them.

“We found the audit to be reasonable. We had no problem with it,” said Deputy Police Chief Erika Shields, who oversees the center. “It is always important to have an outside view, and they provided that. We are already actively engaged on several initiatives.”

In 2012, the center answered 91 percent of incoming emergency calls within 10 seconds, which was a goal of the Atlanta Police Department.

“What is huge is we are exceeding the benchmark of answering the calls,” Shields said, adding that that figure has since ticked up to 93 percent.

Those improvements come less than five years after the center was considered a major liability in the city. In 2009, then-Police Chief Richard Pennington fired 911 Director Miles Butler after a series of high-profile blunders, including a house fire in Grant Park that burned more than 20 minutes after 911 calls came in and before firefighters arrived. That was followed by a fire at a birthday party that raged for 17 minutes before firefighters were dispatched.

But while new goals have been reached, the overall daily performance was uneven. For at least seven hours a day, including the peak late afternoon times, the center fell short of its goals.

Staffing did not increase enough during those peak times while remaining high during quiet times.

The audit showed that during the early morning hours — between 1 and 8 a.m. — the center used more staff to answer calls. During those times, call takers spent more time waiting for calls and only about 25 percent of their time on calls.

Call takers spent close to 50 percent of their time on emergency calls from 3 to 8 p.m.

During those peak times, call takers answered 86 percent of calls within 10 seconds.

Shields said that on each of the center’s three shifts, an equal amount of workers were used because the department assumed that a certain level had to be maintained at all times based on standards established by the Insurance Services Office, an independent company that collects and evaluates such data.

As of Oct. 12, according to the audit, the center had 151 positions filled. Most of them were communications officers, 911 call takers, dispatchers and supervisors.

“Essentially, that had been our approach. But we are learning that we can move people,” Shields said. “What the audit did was made us re-examine our interpretation of ISO standards.”

To compensate for some of the disparities, the center spent $1 million on overtime in 2012.

Shields said that while workers had to be moved occasionally to different shifts, a majority of the overtime was used for cross training, which involved training people on call taking, police dispatch and fire dispatch, all of which are different disciplines.

“They are all different skill sets, and it is critical to have sufficient personnel trained in each area so that we don’t have to utilize overtime,” Shields said.

Ward said proper scheduling could reduce total work hours by 305 hours a week.

“Anytime they can cut off overtime is a direct benefit to the general fund,” Ward said.

In the 42-page report, internal auditors are recommending:

Buying sophisticated work scheduling software that would allow the center to come up with more efficient shifts. Shields said she is already looking for new software and studying what has succeeded and failed in other large cities.

Developing a shift schedule that would align staff with the workload. Ward said this would essentially mean moving some staff from early mornings to afternoons.

Continuing to reinforce the existing call dispatching procedures and monitor dispatch times to make sure call takers transfer information to dispatchers as quickly as possible.

“They have made some real improvements and the performance has gotten better,” Ward said. “And they can maintain that with a lower cost.”

Copyright © 2013 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

“How good is the Communications Division at communicating, really?” This was the challenge presented to the Broomfield (Colo.) Police Communications Specialists in 2010 by the Department Support Services Bureau deputy chief during a meeting to establish our 2011 Division Vision Statement and Division Group Norms. This conversation had two main points.

1. How do we see ourselves; how good are we?

2. How do officers and other department employees see us; how good are we in their eyes?

The answers to these questions should come as no great surprise to anyone. Obviously the communication staff is confident that they are excellent at their jobs. They are confident that when called upon for a service, each dispatcher knows what to do, knows where and how to find an appropriate solution to any request, that each communications center employee is exceptional in the operation of their console system, the location and operation of city and county services, and access to multiple intra-agency resources. In short, communication specialists indeed are routinely the subject matter experts for citizen and officer assistance.

The answer to the second question came as a bit of a surprise. Our deputy chief asked if anyone would be surprised to hear that employees outside of communications did not share the confidence that we had in ourselves. In fact, some opinions were that there was inconsistency among dispatchers, and some were not proficient in their duties. This did not mean that the dispatchers were bad people; it merely opined that task completion was inconsistent and that the dispatchers were not as proficient at their job as they perhaps could be. As is human nature, hearing negative things about your group is difficult to accept. Yet, after the initial shock and further discussion, it was not taken personally by the dispatchers.

The Broomfield Police Department is part of the city and county of Broomfield. Located in the northwest portion of the Denver metropolitan area, the city and county serve a population of approximately 55,000. Visits to the city and county are welcomed at our website, broomfield.org. The city and county do not have a sheriff’s department. The chief of police is recognized as the ex-officio sheriff. The police department consists of 200 employees, 148 sworn and 52 civilian, who serve in one of two bureaus, the Operations Bureau or the Support Services Bureau. Each bureau has a deputy chief of police.

The Operations Bureau consists of the Patrol Division, which includes Court Security and Civil Units, Investigations Division and Special Operations Division, which consists of the Traffic Unit and the Flatiron Services Unit (Flatiron Crossing Mall).

The Support Services Bureau consists of the Administration Division, Communications Division, Detention Division and the Animal Control Division. One benefit our department has is that the communications center is located within the main police department building. Although it is secure from public access, it is always available to department personnel, who routinely visit the center for both professional and personal business.

The first step of this challenge was to identify and address the perceptions of the communications center with other divisions, with the goal of enhancing the quality and effectiveness of communications and its personnel. Do we need to change the impressions that officers and employees have about dispatch? If so, how do we change those impressions? How do we maintain a professional approach and avoid any personal agendas and/or conflicts?

This Liaison Program assigned individual dispatchers to a specific division, starting with the smaller units and eventually working up to the largest, Patrol and Detention. Two dispatchers developed a set of 10 questions, five specific to each division, and five general to the police department. Each question was designed to identify a pattern of opinions about the department and about the divisions, and to evaluate how communications was operating. The words “strengths” and “weaknesses” were purposely avoided, with the questions focusing instead on softer language: What is working well, what is working good, and what could work better? The language was important to prevent communications being portrayed as having “weaknesses.” The Liaison Program philosophy is to take a leadership role in promoting positive teamwork among all employees within the police department.

With the Liaison Program questions in place, the interviews began. The selected divisions’ sergeants were interviewed first, to promote cooperation and thorough understanding of the Liaison Program at the supervisory levels. With those concluded, the one-on-one officer interviews took place. Addressing each compliment and criticism from individual officers and employees would be an impossible task, so the results of the interviews focused on patterns of compliments and criticisms within each division. The assigned dispatchers reviewed and identified these categories, then met with the dispatcher who conducted interviews of a separate division to compare the results, identify the patterns and narrow the list to those patterns. For example, the first two divisions interviewed were Animal Control and Court Security. The two dispatchers compared their results and compiled a list of patterns from each division. This list identified a manageable level of higher priority areas to address. These patterns are described in the following table:

Training sessions were conducted with communications staff to present the final patterns, and identify and establish a plan of action to implement the changes. Five questions were selected as the highest priority areas, and that format would be the plan-of-action document. The five categories were selected so the worksheets given to each dispatcher were not too overwhelming and difficult to manage. As additional division interviews are concluded, updates to the plan of action will be implemented in the most effective, efficient and timely manner.

A follow-up meeting, this time a group event, will be facilitated by the assigned dispatchers with the division sergeants and officers to discuss and agree upon a plan of action to implement these tasks. After the training sessions, the sergeants of the completed divisions will be interviewed again within two months, to determine what was working and what may need to be adjusted further to work in the most effective and efficient manner. This will ensure that this program remains an ongoing proactive process within the department.

Additional interviews have been completed with other divisions within the police department; the Traffic Unit and Investigations Division. These interviews revealed similar patterns found in the interviews with Animal Control and Court Security Units.

Ultimately, the Liaison Program will identify officers who will interview the Communications Division staff in the same manner to promote positive teamwork.

About the Author
Dan Quedenfeld, RPL, has been in the police services for 32 years as a police officer and dispatcher. He has served with the city and county of Broomfield Police Department, which is located on the northwest edge of the Denver metro area for 27 of those years. He was a police officer for 17 years, with assignments in the Patrol Division as an officer and training officer, in the Criminal Investigations Division as a detective in the juvenile and fraud units, and in the Special Operations Division in the Flatiron Crossing mall unit. Since retiring from uniform service due to a line-of-duty injury 10 years ago, he has served in the Communications Division as a Communication Specialist, Communications Trainer and Communications Training Coordinator. He has a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in criminal justice, was honored with the Broomfield Police Officer of the Year award in 1998, and received an RPL certification from APCO in January 2013.

CLEARWATER In a move that may head off a legal battle, Pinellas County officials are set to delay a controversial change to the county’s 911 medical-emergency system until at least the middle of July.

County commissioners in January approved changes to the county’s emergency dispatch so that only an ambulance would be sent to about 14,000 low-priority medical calls, a move that fire chiefs said would mean longer waits for distressed 911 callers.

That criticism and the threat of a lawsuit from St. Petersburg prompted commissioners to push back the change until June 1, long after a consulting firm’sstudy of the proposal was expected to be finished.

With the Fitch & Associates report delayed, though, county Medical Director David Bowden is recommending the Medical Control Board delay the EMS protocol change until 45 days after the county receives the study, which now is expected June 1. The board, which includes emergency-room physicians and hospital administrators, will vote on the recommendation at its meeting May 16.

“I don’t want to start heading down the road we think is correct and then Fitch has a different nuance on it or come up with something different,” said Bruce Moeller, the county’s public safety director.

With the deadline for EMS changes looming, St. Petersburg City Council members on Friday instructed city attorneys to draft another resolution calling for a delay until after the study is released.

That resolution may end up being unnecessary, but it reflects the fierce opposition the county has met as it has looked for ways to reduce the roughly $45 million it will pay this year to Pinellas fire departments to act as medical first-responders.

County leaders say they no longer can afford a 911 service that dispatches both a firetruck and ambulance to every medical call no matter how minor. Under the proposal, known as Phase III, only an ambulance would be dispatched to calls that 911 call-takers classify as “falls” and “sick persons,” which make up about 10 percent of 140,000 medical 911 calls made annually.

At least seven Pinellas cities, including St. Petersburg, and at least four fire districts approved resolutions opposing the EMS changes.

City officials said it made no sense to make changes before the release of the study.

Fire districts also are concerned that reducing the number of calls they make could affect future staffing levels.

It’s a debate that is likely to heat up again when the Fitch report is released.

“At some point, we will either end up in resolution, mediation or a lawsuit,” said St. Petersburg City Council Chairman Karl Nurse. “Maybe that report will suggest some different things that begin a conversation. We’ve been doing this same argument back and forth for three years.”  

Copyright © 2013 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

The APCO Institute EMD Program, based on EMD guide cards and software, is a systematic way to manage emergency medical service (EMS) resources in an organized and effective manner and to provide medical assistance to callers, when needed, until medically trained field response units arrive at the scene.

Employees of the Acushnet Police Department service a population of approximately 10,217 with two full-time and one part-time civilian staff and 17 full-time and eight part-time sworn staff that receive a call volume of close to 35,000 calls annually.

“The APCO Institute welcomes the Acushnet Police Department as an EMD User Agency and looks forward to working with their staff to provide EMD services to their area,” said APCO Institute Director Julie Troutman.

15-year old hid in closet while calling 9-1-1

ABC News – The dispatcher talked a young girl through a frightening robbery.

The APCO Institute EMD Program, based on EMD guide cards and software, is a systematic way to manage emergency medical service (EMS) resources in an organized and effective manner and to provide medical assistance to callers, when needed, until medically trained field response units arrive at the scene.

“APCO has provided us with an efficient, intelligent solution to maintaining the highest level of training in emergency medical dispatching with an easy implementation process that keeps us accountable to the community we serve,” said Sarah Edie, Administrative Coordinator for Speedway Police and Fire Communications.

Employees of the Speedway Police and Fire Communications service a population of approximately 12,000 with one supervisor, nine full-time operators and three part-time operators that receive a call volume between 35,000 and 40,000 annually.

“The APCO Institute welcomes the Speedway Police and Fire Communications Center as an EMD User Agency and looks forward to working with their staff to provide EMD services to their area,” said APCO Institute Director Julie Troutman.

About APCO International™ (www.apcointl.org)

APCO International is the world’s largest organization of public safety communications professionals.  It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole – by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach.

The APCO Institute EMD Program, based on EMD guide cards and software, is a systematic way to manage emergency medical service (EMS) resources in an organized and effective manner and to provide medical assistance to callers, when needed, until medically trained field response units arrive at the scene.

“With APCO’s EMD implementation, I predict performance will increase at every level,” said Vicky Bluemke, Carroll County Emergency 9-1-1 Center 9-1-1 Director.

Employees of the Carroll County Emergency 9-1-1 Center service a population of approximately 22,000 with eight full-time staff and eight part-time staff that receive a call volume of close to 22,000 calls annually.

“The APCO Institute welcomes the Carroll County Emergency 9-1-1 Center as an EMD User Agency and looks forward to working with their staff to provide EMD services to their area,” said APCO Institute Director Julie Troutman.

About APCO International™ (www.apcointl.org)
APCO International is the world’s largest organization of public safety communications professionals.  It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole – by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach.

Background:  Information received from multiple jurisdictions indicates the possibility of attacks targeting the telephone systems of public sector entities.  Dozens of such attacks have targeted the administrative PSAP lines (not the 911 emergency line).  The perpetrators of the attack have launched high volume of calls against the target network, tying up the system from receiving legitimate calls.  This type of attack is referred to as a TDoS or Telephony Denial of Service attack.  These attacks are ongoing.  Many similar attacks have occurred targeting various businesses and public entities, including the financial sector and other public emergency operations interests, including air ambulance, ambulance and hospital communications.

Scheme:  These recent TDoS attacks are part of an extortion scheme. This scheme starts with a phone call to an organization from an individual claiming to represent a collections company for payday loans.  The caller usually has a strong accent of some sort and asks to speak with a current or former employee concerning an outstanding debt.  Failing to get payment from an individual or organization, the perpetrator launches a TDoS attack.  The organization will be inundated with a continuous stream of calls for an unspecified, but lengthy period of time.  The attack can prevent both incoming and/or outgoing calls from being completed. It is speculated that government offices/emergency services are being “targeted” because of the necessity of functional phone lines.

What we know:

• The attacks resulted in enough volume to cause a roll over to the alternate facility.
• The attacks last for intermittent time periods over several hours.  They may stop for several hours, then resume.  Once attacked, the attacks can start randomly over weeks or months.
• The attacks followed a person with a heavy accent demanding payment of $5,000 from the company because of default by an employee who either no longer works at the PSAP or never did.

What we need from victims:

• Additional insight into the scope and impact of the event- specifically how many communications centers have been attacked is critical to identifying the true scope of this occurrence.
• In order to ensure situational awareness with our members and member agencies, it is critical that this information be disseminated to emergency communications centers, PSAP’s, government IT departments, and any related government agency with a vested interest in emergency communications continuity of operations.

Recommend the following:

• Targeted organizations should not pay the blackmail.
• Report all attacks to the FBI by logging onto the website www.ic3.gov
  • Ensure in the title of the report you use the keyword TDoS
  • Ensure that you identify yourself as a PSAP or Public Safety organization capture as much details as possible
    • Calls logs from “collection” call and TDoS
    • Time, date,  originating phone number, traffic characteristics
    • Call back number to the “collections”
    • Method of payment and account number where “collection” company requests debt to be paid
    • ANY information you can obtain about the caller, or his/her organization will be of tremendous assistance in this investigation and in preventing further attacks.
  • Contact your telephone service provider; they may be able to assist by blocking portions of the attack.
  • Should you have any questions please contact the National Coordinating Center for Communications at NCC@hq.dhs.gov or 703-235-5080.

NCCIC of the DHS-Office of Emergency Communications, is coordinating this response to the TDoS attacks with the cooperation of DHS – Office of Infrastructure Protection, Federal Communications Commission, the National Cyber and Forensics Training Alliance, the FBI-National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force in coordination with the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, the National Emergency Numbers Association (NENA), Louisiana Fusion Center, Mansfield Police Department and telecommunications service providers.

Photo istock/Kuzma

Below is a link to an October 26 opinion of the Tennessee Court of Appeals at Nashville in the case of Gregory v. Metro. The case arose following an auto accident that resulted in the death of James Ballentine, driver of a vehicle in which Ballentine and other passengers were trapped. Bystanders called 9-1-1. The calls went to the Metro (Davidson County) 9-1-1 Center, which dispatched emergency agencies from the City of Goodletsville, in Davidson County. Ballentine was removed from the vehicle and transported to Vanderbilt Hospital, where he died 12 hours later on May 30, 2010.

The case was brought by the deceased’s mother, who accused Metro Government’s 9-1-1 dispatchers of negligence for failing to call emergency agencies in a neighboring county (Robertson), which had emergency services in closer proximity to the accident. The case was first heard by a Davidson County Circuit Court Judge, which ruled in favor of Metro. The Court of Appeals upheld her ruling. This is an important decision that upholds an important principle, that “discretionary” actions, such as the decisions of dispatchers, will not be a basis for liability under Tennessee law. 

Click here: https://www.tba.org/sites/default/files/gregoryl_102912.pdf

Acknowledgment: Thanks to Stephen Martini for bringing this to our attention.