Emergency Medical Dispatch is helping to save Lives in Dare County

In a medical emergency, a few seconds can make the difference.

Major Almey Gray, Director of Dare County’s Communications Center, had that point in mind when he asked the Dare County Commissioners for approval to participate in Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) in 2005.

``Until that time, our telecommunicators could not render any medical assistance when a call came into 9-1-1, even when distraught callers asked for it,’’ commented Gray. ``This caused tremendous stress on the telecommunicators; much more than the stress caused by their having to undergo rigorous training to participate in EMD.’’

EMD is a nationally and state certified program that trains telecommunicators to give the right medical advice over the phone to begin treating the patient immediately.

Just this past year, telecommunicator Richard Lewis received a frantic call from a young man who thought his father was having a heart attack.

``He was hysterical and put his mother on the phone and we started going through the EMD procedures. She told me her husband was not breathing so I went to the cardiac arrest section of the EMD protocol and explained to her how to give 30 chest compressions and two breaths every minute until help arrived,’’ related Lewis. ``When the Emergency Medical Services ambulance arrived, the crew credited the CPR with keeping the man alive until they could start working on him.’’

Lewis is quick to point out that it is a team effort when calls come in such as that one. There are five telecommunicators on each shift who work together in getting help to callers as quickly as possible.

``When you call 9-1-1 with a medical emergency, one of us will be guiding you through the EMD protocol while another member of our team is dispatching the ambulance,’’ commented Lora Nock, Assistant Director of the Communications Center. ``When we receive a 9-1-1 call from a land line, also known as a house phone, that location address immediately appears on our computer screen in most cases. Cell phones, on the other hand, will provide us with only longitude and latitude. In both cases, we will ask you where your emergency is and what your phone number is. This is to rule out any errors in the system.’’

Nock is in charge of running a quality assurance check weekly. She and one employee on each shift will randomly pick 25 calls and grade each call for accuracy and efficiency. The department is currently working at a high level of 97% which, as Nock puts it, ``…still gives us a little room for improvement.’’

EMD is a computer software program that works with Computer Aided Dispatch to give the telecommunicator the ability to offer medical advice that flashes on the monitor once symptoms are entered.

``Every telecommunicator is trained and certified in EMD,’’ added Gray. ``For our county to participate in this program, we received medical training that was certified by a Medical Review Board, the State of North Carolina and the Federal Certification Board. It is an intense program, but it is worth it to be ready when the call comes in.’’