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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