Certification sought for emergency dispatchers

Barbers and nail technicians need a license to operate in Idaho.

Emergency dispatchers at the forefront of stressful, soul-searing situations that often make the difference between life and death — no certification needed.

This is a disconcerting fact for Idaho State Police Lt. Kevin Haight, who manages his agency's emergency communication program.

"There is a plethora of vocations in Idaho where the state dictates or mandates that they have to reach a certain training curriculum and be certified," Haight said. "But 911 dispatchers don't have that.

“...In the chain of public safety, that's the first link in the chain, and if that link is broken, the rest of the chain doesn't operate properly."

Haight and other key law enforcement officials are pushing an initiative for Idaho legislators to mandate certification for 911 and emergency dispatchers.

The initiative, which will be proposed during the legislative session that starts in January, will propose all dispatchers complete a minimum of 40 hours training in a one-week academy while pursuing mandated continuation credits every two years.

Dispatchers in Idaho currently go through months-long in-house training with their respective agencies, but the state's law enforcement is pushing for a universal certification standard.

The curriculum would come from APCO International and the National Emergency Number Association.

The certification program would be funded by the Public Utilities Commission the first two years before being picked up by the Idaho Safety Commission.

"We're trying to make a baseline standard," Haight said. "So at least everyone gets the same foundation and those individual agencies can shore up how they want those handled at a more progressive level."

Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug, Post Falls Police Communications Director Charlene Holbrook, Kootenai County Sheriff's Lt. Matt Street and Kootenai County Sheriff's Communications Director Cheryl Hallgren were all present at the Idaho State Police building in Coeur d'Alene to discuss the proposal, which is part of a national initiative.

In May, police agencies across Idaho worked in concert with the Denise Lee Foundation, which offered a uniform, 8-hour training course for dispatchers. The foundation was spearheaded by Nathan Lee, whose wife was abducted and killed in Florida in 2008.

Denise Lee and several others attempted to call 911 when she was abducted from her home, but due to a lack of communication, help arrived too late. One 911 call from Lee came from the abductor's phone.

Haug, a 30-year member of the Post Falls Police Department, doesn't want a repeat of those events. He believes a new form of dispatch technology, Next Generation, will help prevent similar tragedies.

"In addition to the negligence that led to Lee's death, the other thing that we're seeing with 911 is a shift," Haug said. "For the last 40 or more years, 911 has been very simple. You dial 911 and talk to a dispatcher. Well, with Next Generation 911, which is coming soon, that's going to change a lot. Dispatchers are going to be seeing pictures, videos and telematics that will be shipped to the dispatcher — on-the-fly information that requires a different level of training and experience to accommodate that new technology that is coming."

A Next Generation committee has been put together, Haug said, but going from analog to a digital, IP-based network will take time.

"We're estimating that somewhere in that five-year time range is when it's going to happen," said Haug, who is also a commissioner on the Idaho Public Safety Communication Commission.

Every police agency in Kootenai County now uses the text-to-911 feature.

Holbrook, who oversees PFPD's dispatch center, believes Next Generation will be a different system in many ways.

"It will be easier in a sense of technology, but harder in a sense of emotional," Holbrook said. "Now we're behind the scenes on phone; you don't have that face-to-face contact. But if someone is sending us a picture of a bad accident or something we're not used to seeing, it's going to impact our staff tremendously."

It may take a few years for Next Generation to be implemented in dispatch centers across Idaho, but Haight is confident certified dispatchers in Idaho will be a reality sooner than later.

"We feel like we have a tremendous amount of momentum and will likely see this change," Haight said.