Alexandria, VA – The Jefferson County Emergency Communications District recently implemented the APCO Institute Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Program. The communications center, which employs 25 staff members, processes nearly 67,000 calls per year that require some type of emergency response and approximately 28,000 non-emergency calls. With APCO EMD certification, the staff is now specially trained to provide medical assistance to callers while emergency responders are en route.

The APCO Institute EMD Program is based on national standards and provides agencies with a systematic way to manage emergency medical service (EMS) resources in an organized and effective manner. APCO’s EMD Program enables trained dispatchers – through the use of guidecards and software – to quickly assess a caller’s emergency situation and to provide consistent, medically approved assistance over the phone until medically trained field response units arrive at the scene.

“Often, the immediate medical assistance that an EMD-certified dispatcher provides can mean the difference between life and death,” says APCO Institute Director Julie Ray. “Since APCO established its EMD Program in 1990, our customers have related countless stories of lives being saved because of the program.”

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About APCO Institute (www.apcointl.org/institute)
APCO Institute is the training division of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International and is the largest provider of certification and training programs for public safety communications professionals in the world. The Institute is overseen, managed, and operated by industry experts with years of experience. Through our more than 25,000 members, we stay current with industry issues, needs, and standards. And, because its members work in communications agencies each day, their needs and concerns drive the activity of the Institute.

APCO provides Emergency Medical Dispatch products and services to more than 600 communications centers worldwide.

About APCO International™ (www.apcointl.org)
APCO International is the world’s largest organization of public safety communications professionals. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole – by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach.

CONTACT:
Hollann Treber
571-312-4400
treberh@apcointl.org