By Journal Staff
The prospect of letting adults loose in a telecommunication display room might be one way to describe the anticipation of touring the 999 Response Centre (RC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during Asia NAVIGATOR 2015, held March 17-19.
“The tour was a great success,” said Claire Ulibarri, Director, NAVIGATOR Conference Coordination. “Everyone was eager to see the innovations that Kuala Lumpur represents for all agencies in the Malaysian system.”
The fourth annual Asia NAVIGATOR, sponsored by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED), drew 189 attendees from Malaysia, Jordan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. In addition, IAED President Scott Freitag presented an appreciation award to Mr. Rodzi Md. Saad, Secretary, Malaysia National Security Council (NSC), and Principal Assistant Secretary, NSC Disaster Management Division.
Freitag congratulated Mr. Rodzi for his strong advocacy in advancing the protocol throughout the Malaysia emergency response system.
“The NSC is dedicated to all phases of the disaster management process, and (Mr. Rodzi) recognized the significance of protocol in its application to timely and precise response,” Freitag said.
999 RC Kuala Lumpur also held the spotlight because of its dedication to the protocol system and because it served as the host city for the three-day conference highlighting educational sessions in the best practices of emergency response—call triage, leadership, accreditation, and technology.
IAED Accreditation Board Chair Jerry Overton lauded the Kuala Lumpur center’s accomplishments.
“Kuala Lumpur was the first agency in the region to implement the Fire Protocol and, also, the first to achieve an ACE,” Overton said.
IAED awarded the ACE certificate at NAVIGATOR 2015, which was held April 29–May 1 in Las Vegas.
999 RC Kuala Lumpur is one of three Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) under the Malaysian Emergency Response System 999 (MERS 999). The PSAPs receive all police, fire and rescue, hospital, civil defense, and maritime calls, and process the calls using protocol for transfer to dispatchers at secondary PSAPs.
999 RC Kuala Lumpur and 999 RC Melaka answer 999 calls in Peninsular Malaysia; 999 RC Kuching answers 999 calls in East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak).
In 2007, Malaysia’s multiple emergency numbers were consolidated into one (999) and the government of Malaysia appointed Telekom Malaysia (TM) to build and operate MERS. The Fire Protocol was implemented throughout MERS in 2013.
Asia NAVIGATOR is one of eight annual NAVIGATOR conferences the IAED presents worldwide.
