It’s official.
The City of Hialeah (Fla.) Public Safety Communications Division is now home to a tri-accredited emergency dispatch center. The announcement, made April 21 at Navigator 2011 in Las Vegas, underscores the center’s high standards and excellence in three disciplines of emergency dispatch: law enforcement, fire, and EMS. It is only one of three 9-1-1 centers in the world to achieve triple Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) status through the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch® (NAED™).
Hialeah Director of Communications Chief Lazaro Guerra credited hardworking staff for reaching the goal that not only accomplishes prioritized emergency response and technical capabilities but, also, the customer service provided at a center receiving 345,500 calls annually. Hialeah is the fifth largest city in Florida.
“Tri-ACE was the direct result of shared staff training, hard work, and tenacity,” he said. “We are now able to verify and validate our performance for everyone to see.”
The recognition followed within two years of the center’s consolidation. In October 2009, the dispatchers and calltakers from two centers merged into a new 3,000 square-foot facility located in the fire administration building.
Accreditation is a comprehensive project. Public Safety Communications dispatchers must meet specific standards for certification and the agency must submit an ACE application form along with a detailed, self-study document based on the Academy’s Twenty Points. The self-study covers everything from the center’s description to procedures outlining a quality improvement plan, continuing dispatch education, and compliance to the life-saving emergency dispatch protocols developed by Jeff Clawson, M.D.
The City of Hialeah Public Safety Communications Division was among 45 new and reaccredited ACEs recognized at the annual Navigator conference. More than 100 of the 3,000 centers worldwide using the fire, police, and/or medical protocols are recognized ACEs.
More than 1,200 emergency communications professionals attended this year’s Navigator conference held April 20-22 at the Paris in Las Vegas. The NAED is a non-profit standard-setting organization promoting safe and effective emergency dispatch services worldwide. Baltimore, Md., will be the host city for Navigator 2012.
For more information about the NAED, visit www.emergencydispatch.org or call 800-960-6236.