Communication Centers

Operating an E911/Communications Center involves numerous liability concerns beginning at the time the call for service is placed.  The disposition of the emergency call is determined by several factors in the Communications Center.  Many recognized practices are defined as the standard of service nationwide by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).  Many centers are operated by governmental entities which provide limited immunity from litigation.  However, a center operated by an Emergency Service Organization (ESO) is not afforded this immunity.

During the recent survey of your facility it was noted that calls for service either emergency or non-emergency are handled by your agency as a stand-alone Public Safety Answering Point ( PSAP ) or by general staff members. 

We recommends if your organization continues this practice that certain steps be taken to insure consistency of service delivery to the public in need of assistance.  Alternatively, this task could be assumed by another PSAP within the region.

Standard of service criteria for all E911/Communications centers would include but not be limited to the follow:

• Appropriate and dedicated 911 trunk/main lines supported by a telephone company or vendor that is proficient in E911 technology.
• Protected call information that displays the (ANI) Automatic Number Indicator and (ALI) Automatic Location Information for each call for service. This information identifies the caller’s number, location/address, service agencies for the response area and documents time.
• A permanent means to record critical information such as type of call, chief complaint and other extenuating circumstances pertinent to the emergency request and the service response.
• Voice recordings of the 911 call and the resulting radio traffic between the response agency and the Communications Center.
• Redundant systems to support possible loss of commercial power, commercial telephone and internal and external two-communications with service agencies.
• Approved training for all telecommunicators charged with the task of completing the call for service.

Reference material  is available from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) www.nfpa.org ; Standard 1221;  the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) www.apcointl.org , the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) www.nena.org.