Hall Co. 911 to offer new service

GAINESVILLE - Over the past few months, the staff at Hall County 911 has been working to implement a program county officials hope will save the lives of many.

Starting June 2, communications officers will not only dispatch emergency services to those in need, but if medical instructions are needed, the communications officer will be trained and certified to give the callers pre-arrival and post-dispatch instructions.

The Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) call system was created by The National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED). This system has been used for more than 25 years in more than 3,000 communication centers worldwide, serving more than 300 million people a year.

Use of this system will provide communications officers with effective structured call-taking tools, allowing them to quickly gather critical emergency call information, identify life-threatening situations, safely prioritize calls for appropriate and fast response and provide immediate dispatch life support pre-arrival and post-dispatch instruction. Other agencies that have used this program have assisted in delivering babies, saved the lives of choking victims and given CPR instructions.

With this implementation of the EMD, the citizens of Hall County will notice a change in how calls to Hall County 911 are answered. Calls should be answered "Hall County 911, what's the address of the emergency?" The Enhanced 911 System in place in the county has always displayed the address to the dispatcher but he or she will now verbally verify that the address that is shown is, in fact, the one where the call is originating. County officials say this will, in no way, delay the response of sending help to the citizen calling 911. EMD will enable dispatchers to process and pass onto field responders a constant stream of reliable scene data so informed decisions can be made on how best to respond to emergencies.

Citizens will also notice more in-depth questions regarding the patient so that immediate life support pre-arrival and post-dispatch instructions may be given.