Bookmark & ShareSomeone contemplating the implementation of an early defibrillation program might think of this as another obstacle that will add substantial overhead to the program. That is not necessarily true.
A lot of law enforcement agencies support their own dispatch facilities. Some agencies train their dispatchers in the specialized area of Emergency Medical Dispatching (EMD). We manage our own communications center but we do not train our staff in EMD. Neither do we see the need. Like any other potential obstacle, it can be overcome by examining alternatives. There are always alternatives. You just need to find them.
How We Do It
The Rochester Police Department provides dispatch services for the Rochester Police Department, the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, the Rochester Fire Department and all other fire departments, ambulances and first responder units in Olmsted County. The only public safety partner not included is Gold Cross Ambulance. Gold Cross Ambulance is dispatched by Mayo Emergency Communications. They provide EMD and pre-arrival instructions not just for the Gold Cross Service area (which covers more than the entire city) but for any other emergency medical call that comes into our communications center from outlying parts of Olmsted County.
For calls within the City of Rochester, the police dispatchers simply transfer the 9-1-1 call to Mayo Emergency Communications with a single push of a button. Our dispatchers continue to eavesdrop on the conversation in order to provide update information to responding police and fire vehicles.
For calls outside of the City of Rochester and outside of the primary service area of Gold Cross, the process is bifurcated. The police dispatchers will obtain the essential information regarding the emergency and notify the appropriate ambulance service and first responder unit for that area. The call will simultaneously be transferred to Mayo Emergency Communications to pre-arrival instructions to the caller if necessary.
This procedure works well for us and has played a key role in numerous successful resuscitations.