Audrey Fraizer
Las Vegas Fire & Rescue fire and medical 911 communication center took center stage—literally and figuratively—at NAVIGATOR 2018 but not to the displacement of the other star attractions at the three-day conference held April 24–26.
Big news came from the Academy with the unveiling of several innovations that maximize the art of emergency dispatch:
- Academy Analytics™ Powered by FirstWatch
- Advanced SEND™ (Protocol 38)
- Performance Standards 10th Edition
Further collaboration between two established partners will now give communication centers worldwide a better way to gather and turn real-time data into long-term solutions for system improvements.
Academy Analytics Powered by FirstWatch is a near real-time, online dashboard and analytics add-on for ProQA®. Data is sent to the Academy and FirstWatch simultaneously using a secure data connection. This allows agencies to see ProQA data in real time, and the flow of information is automatic. Information can be displayed on a web-enabled device.
With the analytics tool, centers can (among other possibilities):
- Monitor center performance in real time
- Instantly identify outlier cases for review
- Provide frequency of reconfigured and aborted calls
- Balance workload
- Facilitate timely and relevant feedback
“Analytics gives a broader and more representative data sample and increased insight from our agencies,” said Isabel Gardett, IAED™ Director of Academics, Research, and Communications. “We are taking knowledge and turning it into applications.”
Advanced SEND
The ability to relay pertinent information in a timely, efficient way has always been the goal behind the Academy’s SEND card, and now it’s even better as an independent protocol with enhancements announced at NAVIGATOR 2018.
It’s now called the Advanced SEND, a protocol-specific and direct ProQA entry process. Advanced SEND is in the pre-release stage and, like its predecessor, the Advanced SEND (Protocol 38) gives emergency dispatchers the ability to correctly code and send the appropriate response from information relayed by police officers in the field.
Incorporation into ProQA as its own protocol streamlines the process and not only does it help scene officers know what information to provide to medical dispatch, but also why that information is important.
The Advanced SEND Protocol should be used for calls received from on-scene police officers using the Advanced SEND card with the exception of choking incidents. As Rule 7 for Protocol 38 states, “If choking is the Chief Complaint from the officer, go directly to Protocol 11 to complete the interrogation, then immediately provide necessary PAI choking instructions.”
For over 30 years, the SEND Protocol (introduced in 1984) has been used by police officers’ to meet the demands of priority dispatching and provide emergency dispatchers with certain key details.
“It’s always been about getting information fast so you know the right response to send,” said Bonni Stockman, former EMD at Salt Lake City International Airport (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA) and now IAED Associate Director of Instructor Services.
The Advanced SEND simply does it better.
While now part of MPDS®, plans include adding Protocol 38 to the fire and police protocol systems. The original SEND is still available in the cardset.
Performance Standards 10th Edition
The spotlight here is the ability of three disciplines to speak the same language. The updated version applies to medical, fire, and police protocols and, also for the first time, addresses the flow of calls—such as operant questions, use of Fast Track, and Cold Call pathways.
This latest version subsequently led to enhancements to the AQUA® software, including a redesign of all reports and trending tools. A complete description of the Performance Standards and AQUA can be found in QTips Issue 1, 2018, which is available for all Q’s through the IAED College of Emergency Dispatch.
