Certifications?

What do you guys use? APCO, Powerphone, NAEMD?

Suffolk County,LI NY uses NAEMD. It is used at our county communications center. All calls given out are coded, but it is up to the individual departments if they follow the response protocol.

NAEMD

We do not use the protocols in the back at all. And we've made quite a few other changes in the system to fit our needs.

Before a new dispatcher gets off of training they must have completed the APCO 40 hr basic, CLEAN/NCIC training, and taked an 100 question test to be state certified by PEMA. We are not EMD yet but hopefuly soon

Are we just talking EMD or ALL certifications? Based on the original post I assumed it was just EMD...

Sorry-

I was referring to any kind of certifications, EMD, fire communications, etc...

Those who've responded thus far- tell me why, if you would, you feel the way you do about the certifications...Good/bad, and why...

Thanks!

Training for Telecommunicators always helps and never hurts. Better training equals better Telecommunicators therefore better communication and handling of situations. Be it through APCO, NENA, Powerphone, PSTC or whomever, if you have the chance to attend or send any of your Comm staff to training DO IT!!! :D

I like NAEMD. EMD of any kind is a shield from liability.

I'm personally trained in:

APCO Basic TC Class (40 hours)
Hostage Negotiation
Suicide Prevention
Domestic Crisis Intervention
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
Police Dispatch
Fire Dispatch
Incident Command
School Violence
Workplace Violence
Crisis Communications
Training Assistant
Liability Issues in the PSAP
EMD
LEADS/NCIC
CPR
Terrorism as it relates to Public Safety Communications

There's more but I can't remember it all.

We have to have the APCO basic telecommunicator class, NAEMD, CPR, and NCIC training.

NAEMD ............. and I would like to take the fire portion of that as well............someday

We use the IDACS Cert. You should here some of our dispatchers...I think im going to make some recordings and start a web site. There mistakes can be pretty funny.

We also have a Stinky Director of the E-911 System. I have thought about making air fresheners that smell like her to help raise money for new radios since they turned down a huge fema grant because they wouldnt move the comm center to a different location in the county.

We are currently having discussion with the New Zealand Fire Service about this very subject. To date we complete a Basic Communicator course then, as positions become available, complete external courses on customer relations and personnel management. We do have a National Certificate Course that has been adapted from a standard Call Centre course, but it isn't ideal because of the expectations of the Time Critical Environment that we work in. At this stage we have no definitive course of progression/advancement for our job, something that we hope to change!

Regards

Colin

Here in Kentucky all communications officers that in any form dispatch a law enforcement agency must go through the KY DOCJT (Department of Criminal Justice Training) 160 hour (4 weeks straight)
Communications academy. This cover's Basic Tele, CPR & First Aid, EMD per power phone, fire dispatch, hostage/crisis negoications, and LINK (KY state law enforcement system)/NCIC. This must be taken with in 6 months of employment. Also KY mandates a min of 8 hours and will provide free up to 80 hours of inservice training a year through the DOCJT. Also in KY there are 5 levels of dispatcher's, basic level
completed academy), intermediate level (is another 100 hours of specific class such as domestic violence, advanced emd, advanced level
(is another 100 to 150 hours in CTO, TAC, terrorism, advanced fire dispatch, caller interrogation). The last 2 levels are for shift supervisors and Comm center directors. The state of KY implement this to follow the out line of the way EMT levels are set up not only to provide the citizens with a higher caliber of telecommunicator’s but in hopes as you climb the 5 levels the individual departments will use this to justify pay increases. The more cert's you have the better off you are in the end.

For Delaware, (state police) he have to go thru:

APCO Basic TC Class (40 hours)
Hostage Negotiation
Suicide Prevention
Domestic Crisis Intervention
Critical Incident Stress training
Police Dispatch
Fire Dispatch
Medical Dispatch
NCIC
CPR/AED

must hold minimum emt-b, and willing to be EMD certified withing a certain time period.

Here at our regional Communications Center, we handle most of our training in house.

However, within 1 year of employment, the State of CT requires dispatchers be "State Certified". This consists of a 4 day class given by contracted trainers, and a 1/2 day class given by the phone company on how to use the 911 system.

State of Connecticut has mandated that dispatch centers mandate some form of EMD prior to July 2004. It is up to the area's as to how much of the EMD, and what program they use.

Here at Colchester Emergency Communications (KX) (Regional PSAP for 7 towns) we have chosen Priority Dispatch EMD.

Additional training classes are taken as avaiable, and as funds and OT are available (Not that much recently)


Kevin McManus
Colchester, CT