By Ryan Duey

Dickinson County 911 dispatchers ended 2023 with 100% Emergency Medical Dispatching compliance. Emily Papa, 911 director, acknowledged that in the 22 years that she has been there they have never had 100% compliance for an entire year.

Being EMD certified allows the dispatcher to give medical instructions for things like CPR, the Heimlich maneuver, and childbirth over the phone. They also have specific questions they ask callers so they can pass pertinent information on to the first responders, which helps them be prepared when they arrive.

To measure compliance, once a week Emily selected, at random, one call for each of the dispatchers. She listened to the call to ensure the dispatcher asked all the right questions and followed the procedures.

Emily said that the dispatchers were worried every time she went to grade the calls, afraid someone would mess up, but they kept it together. She said she’s very proud of them.