Celebrating 20 Years of EMD

December 17, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:     Megan Silverstrim, Cumberland County

                        717.729.7019

Cumberland County 9-1-1 Celebrates 20 Years of

Life Saving Medical Protocol

Cumberland County, Pennsylvania– In 2013 Cumberland County Department of Public Safety (DPS) will celebrate 20 years of Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD).  EMD is a nationally recognized program that relies on a series of standardized questions and instructions that provide dispatchers with a consistent approach to medical emergencies.  With EMD, dispatchers are able to determine caller location, nature of the emergency, triage the emergency and determine the seriousness of the incident.  With this information dispatchers can then determine the appropriate response, as well as offer pre-arrival medical instructions to the caller.

In 1993, Cumberland County Department of Public Safety played an integral part in introducing the life saving program to the 8 counties that comprise the Emergency Health Services Federation (EHSF). The mission of EHSF is to develop, maintain and improve the EMS system within the 8 county region. Cumberland County was the first in EHSF to actually adopt the program.  At the time EMD was a contentious concept but 20 years later all 8 counties in the region utilize the life saving protocol. 

All Cumberland County 9-1-1 dispatchers are EMD certified through a 32 hour course when hired.  Dispatchers must obtain continuing education credits and retest for their certification every two years.  Since its inception, dispatchers have successfully navigated callers through the steps to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), child birth and a variety of other medical conditions.  On February 5th, DPS will officially mark this 20 year anniversary with an interactive program that will be open to the public.  For more information on Cumberland County 9-1-1, visit www.ccpa.net/publicsafety                                                                    

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Cumberland and Dauphin 9-1-1 Collaboration

December 10, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:    Megan Silverstrim, Cumberland County

                        717.729.7019

Cumberland & Dauphin County 9-1-1 Collaboration

Assistances in HACC Assault Case

Cumberland County, Pennsylvania– The quick and thorough actions of a 9-1-1 dispatcher is often the first step to a successful police investigation and the recent abduction and assault that began on the Harrisburg Area Community College campus is a prime example.  Dispatchers from Dauphin and Cumberland County worked together to obtain vital information that aided officers in the initial moments of the incident and provided assistance to the victim until first responders arrived.     

                                                                                                         

This incident began in Dauphin County, and the initial 9-1-1 call was routed to Dauphin.  The Dauphin dispatcher realized the victim was in fact in Cumberland County and quickly patched the call to Cumberland 9-1-1.  Dispatchers from both counties remained on the line working diligently to calm the victim and determine her location, as she was unfamiliar with her surroundings.  With information received from the victim, dispatchers were also able to contact PennDot, to obtain a more detailed vehicle description and license plate number for the vehicle the suspect was to be traveling in. 

This “across the river collaboration” is not a rare event, but rather a daily occurrence as crime knows no boundaries and incidents occur requiring the assistance of resources from both Dauphin and Cumberland County.  This partnership involves various technological elements allowing the collaboration between both 9-1-1 centers to occur in an efficient and impactful manner.  For details on Dauphin County 9-1-1visit www.dauphincounty.org/government/EMA-911.  For more information on Cumberland County 9-1-1 visit www.ccpa.net/publicsafety.

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