Emergency Medical Dispatcher - Work Locations

Work Locations

The overwhelming majority of EMDs will perform their work in an EMS dispatch centre. Occasionally this may involve some 'site work', such as on-site dispatching for large special events, but this is somewhat rare. EMS dispatching may be a single, independent process, or it may be a mixed function with one or more of the other emergency services. In some smaller jurisdictions, the EMS, fire and police dispatch functions, and even the 9-1-1 system may be physically co-located, but with different specialist staff performing each function. Such decisions are frequently made based on the sizes of the services involved, and their call volumes. While some jurisdictions are required, generally through economics or size, to provide a single public safety dispatch system, the three emergency services have requirements and procedures that are sufficiently different that wherever possible, independent dispatching is preferred. Even in truly large, mixed (fire and EMS) services, such as the New York City Fire Department, the functions and requirements are seen as sufficiently different that an independent dispatch function is maintained for each. The emergency services in question all have their own priorities, and while they are extremely important to each, those priorities often simply conflict too greatly to allow reasonable joint dispatch functions. To illustrate, in a scenario with a single dispatcher for both fire and EMS: the truck officer on a fire apparatus is requesting additional resources for a working fire with a possibility of trapped people, and two paramedics are attempting to resuscitate a dying child, but require medical direction, which request gets priority? Another important consideration is workload; in many jurisdictions the call volume of the EMS system is 5-6 times as great as that of the Fire Department. Asking fire service dispatchers to also dispatch EMS resources, or vice versa, may exceed the capabilities of the dispatchers. Even when joint dispatching is pursued by a community, the various types of dispatch functions to support EMS, fire and police are so different that the dispatchers involved will require separate training and certification in each.

Increasingly, such public safety dispatch locations are becoming community owned and operated resources. As such, they tend to be co-located with other emergency service resources, as in a headquarters-type complex. Such environments must strike a 'balance' between the high-tech requirements of the work, including large numbers of computers, telephone lines, and radios, and the psychological needs of the human beings operating them. The environment is frequently both high-performance and high-stress, and every measure must be taken to ensure as little ambient stress in the environment as possible. Such issues are often the subject of careful design and also ergonomics. Environmental colour choices, the reduction of ambient noise (and therefore stress) and the physical design of the seating and consoles used by the EMD are all intended to reduce stress levels. Supervisory staff also typically monitor staff carefully, particularly in high-performance environments, ensuring that rest and meal breaks are taken, and occasionally providing a 'time out' after a particularly difficult call. Despite all of these measures, occupational stress is a significant factor for many EMDs, and the 'burnout' rate for those in these positions tends to be higher than other occupations.

The role and certification of Emergency Medical Dispatcher has its origins in the United States but is gradually gaining acceptance in many other countries. The position and credential are in widespread use in Canada and the U.K.. The acceptance and use of this position and credential are growing in the European Union, in Australia, and elsewhere. In many respects, the development of this position is a logical sequel to the incorporation of the Emergency medical dispatch system by EMS. Together, NAED and PDC often present themselves as the de facto standard in EMD systems. However, the continued recognition given to alternative providers suggests that this approach is not universally accepted. And not all EMS dispatch worldwide is conducted by EMDs. In some jurisdictions using the Franco-German model of EMS service delivery (SAMU in France, for example), a call for a medical emergency will not be processed by an EMD, but generally by a physician, who will decide whether or not an ambulance will even be sent.