Dane County 911 Earns Prestigious National Accreditation
April 08, 2011
Joshua Wescott, Office of the County Executive (608) 267-8823 or cell (608) 669-5606
County Executive
Dane County First in Wisconsin to Achieve “Center of Excellence” from National Academies of Emergency Dispatch
The Dane County 911 Center has earned national accreditation for its excellence in handling and coordinating response to medical emergencies.
The National Academies of Emergency Dispatch has named Dane County’s 911 Center an “Accredited Center of Excellence.” It’s the first 911 center in Wisconsin to achieve the honor and even more notably, only 2% of all of the 911 centers in the entire country have earned this distinction.
“The county board and I went out and hired the best 911 Director in the country and invested millions of dollars more into the best staff, training, quality assurance, and technology to ensure our half-million citizens have a 911 system they can count on,” County Executive Kathleen Falk said. “This well-deserved award is a testament to the work we’ve done and what our great staff do 24/7 to keep people safe.”
To be named an “Accredited Center of Excellence,” Dane County’s 911 Center had to meet a series of criteria. That includes achieving high compliance scores for the handling of emergency medical calls for several months consecutively. Hundreds of those calls are reviewed every month as part of the Dane County 911 Center’s quality assurance program.
“My focus from day one has been continuous improvement and with work now underway on new radio and computer aided dispatch systems, there are more exciting enhancements on the horizon for our 911 Center,” Director John Dejung said.
The Dane County 911 Center is the only dispatch center in Wisconsin that utilizes Priority Medical Dispatch, Priority Fire Dispatch, and Priority Police Dispatch protocols, training and software. Following these dispatch protocols, 911 communicators ask callers a series of questions. Those questions are designed to gather specific information which helps assure dispatchers send the right help to the right place at the right time.
Next week is National 911 Telecommunications Week - - the week set aside each year to commend the work of 911 dispatchers across the country.