What exactly is a Dispatcher's Tool Box and what is in it?
A Dispatcher's Tool Box includes all of the tools that they need in order to do their job quickly and correctly. For Wilson County 9-1-1, our first and foremost tool are standards. Standards are a set of documents that are the best practices and information sources for an industry (Telecommunications here- Nationally and Internationally). We follow NENA, APCO International, and NFPA Standards. These standards tell us how to handle each call, including the information that we may need in the event the caller gets disconnected and we are unable to connect back with them.
Imagine calling for an ambulance for a loved one that is not breathing, and you are able to give all the information to the 9-1-1 telecommunicator, but you get disconnected. With the information that we gather, we know that you need an ambulance, but we also are able to call a law enforcement agency to see if they have someone close by to help your loved one. Now imagine if we did not obtain all of the information and your call gets disconnected and we are not able to connect back with you. Medical response could be delayed because no one knows this is a medical incident.
Our tool box also includes our training. In 2021, our team logged over 1,600 hours of training, over 110 hours per Telecommunicator! Our standards state that each Telecommunicator should have 24 hours of training annually. We have reached out to The Kyle Plush Answer The Call Foundation and The Denise Amber Lee Foundation and formulated training that can help reduce the likelihood that either of these tragedies would occur here. As a matter of fact, because of our training in these areas and some resolute Telecommunicators, Wilson County 9-1-1 was #6 out of 10 of the 2021 top moments of The Kyle Plush Answer The Call Foundation!!
One major aspect of our tool box is SMART911. SMART911 allows you to go to their website or phone app and make a FAMILY profile. You add your address and phone information, and any other information that is important for responders to know. If a number that has been registered calls in, the Telecommunicator has the information that you have provided. The information that you provide is completely secure and we can only access it if you call 9-1-1. This information can help us ensure that we get the right help to you as quickly as possible. If you have this filled out with pet information and your house catches fire, we can let the Fire Fighters know that there are animals in the home that they will need to look for.
Another tool for our tool box is RapidSOS. This tool is an emergency response data platform that gives us the ability to more accurately see your location, health data that has been entered into your phone, and more. This tool typically alerts us that a call is incoming, where the caller is, and what the phone number is prior to the call ever hitting our system and ringing. With Wilson County 9-1-1 having this tool, we have been able to save lives. Most times, if you call 9-1-1 and hang up, the number will still populate on RapidSOS. It is our policy to call that number back, even if it does not actually ring into the center. Again, having this tool and having this particular policy, has saved multiple lives. It was revealed that because of our policies and procedures, Wilson County 9-1-1 ranked NUMBER 1 in the use of this platform!
We were able to carry out a functional exercise earlier this month with Watertown Volunteer Fire Department. This exercise allowed us to ensure that we have every tool in our tool box in the event of a major disaster or any incident to quickly, efficiently, and effectively serve not only our citizens, but our responders, as well.
We utilize many state of the art tools at Wilson County 9-1-1. We find it to be of the utmost importance in order to serve our county the the absolute best of our ability. We are PROUD to serve the citizens, visitors, and responders of Wilson County.
DISPATCHER TOOL BOX