Alexandria, VA – Whitfield County E9-1-1 recently implemented the APCO Institute Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Program. In addition to serving Whitfield County, the agency provides call taking and/or dispatching for all 9-1-1 calls for the municipalities of Dalton, Tunnel Hill, Varnell and Cohutta with 28 call takers and five administrators. Whitfield County E911 averages 182,000 calls for service per year and 300,000 calls in all.

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 while trained EMS responders are en route to 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.”

Whitfield County E9-1-1 Deputy Director Ashlee Zahn agrees that APCO’s EMD Program has made a difference in her communications center, saying that the program “has allowed everyone to provide critical help to those in need with less confusion, and this helps us to provide more effective and efficient service to our community.”

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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