NORTH COAST EMS

EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH PROJECT

1995 - 97

ABSTRACT

The North Coast EMS region includes Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and a portion of southern Trinity Counties. These primarily rural counties have a population of about 215,000 living in area of 6,000 square miles. 911 calls are currently answered at one of eight primary Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP’s). Depending on the location of the incident, these calls may be dispatched directly and/or transferred to one of two secondary PSAP’s, a private ambulance dispatcher, or a volunteer ambulance service dispatcher. At beginning of the project none of these various agencies provided anything close to consistent or structured Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) service.

In February of 1994 North Coast EMS applied for a Prevention 2000 Special Project Block Grant from the State of California, Emergency Medical Services Authority, to develop an Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) program in its region. The first year grant was followed up in March of 1995 with the application and approval of a second year continuation grant. A one year extension was granted in May, 1996.

The intent of the second year of the project was to complete the development and implementation of EMD in Humboldt County, and to expand the program to the rest of our region (Del Norte, Lake, and Southern Trinity Counties). The status of Emergency Medical Dispatch programs within the region were to be assessed. The Emergency Medical Dispatch program was to be expanded throughout the region. A system for evaluating the effectiveness of the program was to be developed and the program was to be generally expanded and improved for our entire region.

Early in the project it was identified that one of the principal challenges in implementing EMD would be in gaining the cooperation and support of the administrations of the various dispatch centers in the region. Our implementation strategy therefore focused on education and facilitation. First we needed to convince the agencies that they should be interested in an EMD program. Then we wanted to make it as easy as possible for them to develop their program. Feedback from the dispatch community was continually sought through task force meetings, distribution of draft policies and documents, and informational mailings.

During the term of this project significant progress has been made towards implementing EMD programs throughout our region. Five classes were conducted in four separate locations and attended by eighty-two dispatchers from public and private agencies throughout our region. EMD service is currently being provided, at some level, by three Humboldt County agencies. Additionally, one Humboldt County, one Lake County, and a Trinity County agency have been provided with EMD materials and equipment and are in the process of developing their programs.

During the two year term of the grant significant progress has been made towards the development of EMD in the North Coast EMS region. Full region wide implementation, however, was not achieved. The principal problem encountered throughout the term of the project was the lack of any enforcement or incentive authority to encourage or compel local dispatch agency administrators to adopt EMD. Many dispatch agency administrations were initially resistive or unwilling to spend time and money on training and implementation of EMD. We commend those who have committed to this program, but suggest some kind of regulatory or legislated incentive to encourage all dispatch agencies to adopt EMD in the future.