Beaufort County Sheriff's Office 9-1-1 Center announces the implementation of the Medical Priority Dispatch System

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office 9-1-1 Center is excited to announce the implementation of the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ MPDS^® to better serve the citizens of Beaufort County and those traveling through Beaufort County in emergency situations.

Dispatchers using the newly implemented protocol system will:

follow nationally recognized standards
give universal, consistent care and service to every caller

gather critical emergency call information for responders
identify life-threatening situations
safely prioritize calls for appropriate and fast response
provide “Zero Minute” Dispatch Life Support using Pre-Arrival and Post-Dispatch Instructions
“I’m excited about the implementation of the Emergency Medical Dispatch system, and the commitment from the entire staff over the last few months to go above and beyond the expectations that were put before them to provide this lifesaving service to the citizens of Beaufort County we so proudly serve” stated Sheriff Ernie Coleman.
Implementing the Medical protocol enables dispatchers to accurately assess each emergency situation and send the best response possible while safeguarding valuable and limited emergency services resources and increasing safety for both citizens and responders. One key benefit Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center will now provide is a constant stream of crucial and updated scene information to field responder’s enroute. This information will better prepare responder’s to give precise assistance when they arrive at the scene.

The Priority Dispatch System™ (PDS™) includes ProQA^® software and card sets, a certification training course for emergency dispatchers, and continual quality improvement (QI) benchmarks and training. All dispatchers who work on the new system are certified by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch^® (NAED^™) and must recertify every two years, completing 24 hours of continuing dispatch education (CDE) and passing all requirements for NAED recertification.

Proactive quality improvement (QI) benchmarks are an important part of the newly implemented Priority Dispatch System. Use of the PDS allows communications centers to assess the quality of the care they are providing their communities, allowing them to make positive adjustments to training and staff in response to these assessments.

The constantly evolving Priority Dispatch System (PDS) will help provide the highest standard of care to the community, allowing Emergency Medical Dispatchers to better manage limited resources and increase the accuracy and efficiency of the dispatching process.

According to Victor Williams, Director of Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office 9-1-1 Center:

“The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office 9-1-1 Center will be very different from this point going forward. In the past the 9-1-1 dispatcher would obtain an address, phone number, and type of emergency only and then immediately dispatch the local Emergency Medical Service to that address. Going forward with the new Emergency Medical Dispatch System our 9-1-1 team will be delivering Post-Dispatch Instructions and Pre-Arrival Instructions which will allow the 9-1-1 Team and caller to assist the patient until Emergency Medical help arrives. This new system will also allow the 9-1-1 team to determine what level of care to send to the patient. For example someone with a broken toe could expect a non-emergency response from a basic level EMS unit and someone calling about a person pinned under equipment & not breathing could expect an emergency response from Advance Life Support (Paramedic) unit, Fire Department medical responders, Rescue, Law Enforcement, and Air medical being placed on standby if needed. With all these things going on the caller will need to expect more questions and instruction than they may have experienced in the past. Be assured that while all these question and instructions are being given the appropriate responders have already been dispatched to assist you. This level of service from the 9-1-1 center will greatly improve the quality of life in Beaufort County.”

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office 9-1-1 Center provides Enhanced 9-1-1 services and beginning January 06, 2016 Emergency Medical Dispatch to the citizens of Beaufort County serving as the primary answering point for all emergency services calls in the County. The 9-1-1 Center operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with a staff of 12 full-time, including the Communications Supervisor, one part-time employee and a 911/Communications Director. The 9-1-1 Center serves as a link between the public and the various emergency services organizations.

The division provides dispatch services countywide to Beaufort County Sheriff, Chocowinity Police and Aurora Police Departments, as well as 14 Fire Departments, 7 Rescue Squads/EMS, as well as an array of other related services.

The 9-1-1 Center has three manned dispatch positions, as well as a 4^thwithin the Supervisors office, with each position being completely redundant of the other. Each position can receive 9-1-1 calls and dispatch any agency necessary.

As this system of protocol implementation, training, and quality improvement is set into place, you can be confident that Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center will be earning the public’s trust with every call and is your best possible source of help during times of medical, fire, and law enforcement emergencies.

Contact Information

For this story and the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center

Contact: Director Victor Williams

Phone: 252-402-5123

E-mail: vwilliams@co.beaufort.nc.us

Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center website: www.beaufortcountysheriff.org

For the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch

Contact: Carlynn Page

Phone: 800-363-9127 ext. 243

E-mail: carlynn.page@emergencydispatch.org

NAED website: www.emergencydispatch.org

For Priority Dispatch products, training, and services