Nationwide 911 training needed, panelists say

Of course, the real purpose of the forum isn’t to come up with a catchy new term for 911 personnel, although Wooten suggested “emergency communications professionals” as a possibility. After all, ambulance drivers didn’t become EMTs simply by declaring it. Instead, that sector developed national requirements that established a minimum standard of care, and it created a national registry of certified EMTs.

John Chiaramonte, lead associate with Booz, Allen, Hamilton—a consulting firm to the National 911 Program within the U.S. Department of Transportation—suggested that the approach taken by the EMS sector is one that the 911 sector should emulate.

“The National Association of State EMS Officials [NASEMSO] has developed a core curriculum identifying knowledge, skill and ability requirements for basic EMTs, all the way up to advanced EMTs and paramedics,” he said. “They outlined the educational competencies that states need to meet. And, at the national level, that allows individuals to be certified and training programs to be accredited. That not only lets people move back and forth, but it also establishes a minimum level of EMS care.”

Indeed, one of the problems that the lack of national certification for 911 professionals creates is that they are unable to move from one jurisdiction to another. That’s because every jurisdiction trains at least a little differently—in many cases, quite differently—so they essentially would have to start from scratch, if they moved to another public-safety answering point.

Wooten’s dream is that the 911 sector mirrors what exists in the EMS sector, because it would mean that anyone who calls 911 would receive the same standard of care, regardless of where they live.

“Through this discussion and through all of the work that we’re doing, we’re going to raise our level of professionalism, but we also have to keep in mind the real benefit to this—the real beneficiaries of all this work—are the people who are going to pick up the phone and call when they need help.”

Next: What 911 officials plan to do about training, and how they plan to do it.