How would you dispatch this call?

[pjm1733 22]

mike thanks for the reply

we can not just transfer calls with out taken all information and following up with a phone to the proper agency. just not willing to take on the liability of droping the call.

Personally i like having a cop and als bus on scene before my call takers can dust off the emd cards

[mikeinet 37]

pjm - what do you have against EMD cards? Face it - a dispatcher has only one sense to work with (ears) - and doing that while trying to be "the first responder" to an emergency scene (face it, a dispatcher is... they are the first person you call in an emergency) - the EMD cards can make a call run smoother, let alone give pre-arrival instructions from delivering a baby to CPR to how to control bleeding. When used properly, EMD cards can help a call more than it can hurt it.

[engine968 8]

Re: EMD; I'm with pjm on that subject. EMD can be more trouble than it's worth. If anyone's looking for a discussion on this, we can start another thread on the pros and cons of EMD. Let me know if you're interested. :wink:

[PVFD113 6]

To add to the Putnam situation--it depends on how the call comes in for us. Cell calls go to S.P., they 85% of the time send a car to check it out, if they do request FD/Ems there is another delay of 2-6 minutes before we get toned out. Personal experiances--a few come to mind--S.P. on location of a PIAA--FD/EMS got dispatched to the wrong location on the parkway and there was no extrication--subjects out of vehicle being interviewed by the trooper. Even with mile markers--somehow it still gets messed up. I believe the S.O. gets sent to check and advise also--supposedly this will change with the new center opening up. All calls go through Putnam 911 and they will dispatch FD/EMS and also advise the appropriate police agency.

Better to have and not need than need and not have!!!

[JBE 328]

.

I have to constantly second guess and evaluate information given to me.

A quick example, Saturday  I reiceive a report of a car into a tree transferred to me via sp cell phone 911. The caller, a home run, giving me the exact location, minor injury, hes standing by at scene, radiator leaking causing steam. Only problem its not in my juristiction. Just over the line, but still not are call.

I take all info and personally call proper authority.

Minute or so later phones lighting up(all cell Phones) reports of  car accident  w fire at two different locations but all in the immediate vicinity of the original caller. one report on my side

(who is transferring these calls to me ! )  

Different versions of the same incident.

 

What do you do ? :-k  

 

Sent the pd to   CHECK AND ADVISE

CHECK AND ADVISE

My opinion would be to advise the responding IC that you're also getting info of an accident in this vicinity, have responding units check and advise. If it's not the same thing, dispatch as needed. If it is, you're all set, you told someone.

[engine968 8]

JBE: I agree with you. As long as you notify the already responding units, that you're getting conflicting reports of different conditions at different locations, you are covered. If the responding agency arrives and finds it's not in their district, they can then tell you to send the other department, or just notify that they handled a call in the other's area. This happens a lot in my county too, and if everyone uses common sense it all works out. :wink:

PVFD: The SP and SO may actually be saving you a lot of unnecessary runs. You're right that if it's a serious incident, it's better to have the FD already responding. But I'll tell you this. A lot of cell phone calls are received from idiots who have no clue about giving accurate info or the correct location. Many women especially call in all kinds of nonsense that doesn't need to be called in at all (like the one this week who called in a cloud of dust as a brush fire) If FD/EMS were to be sent out on every single report, there would be so many nonsense runs, that all the volunteers in the county would be burned out from all the B/S calls. We're halfway there in Nassau County already. :sad:

[PVFD113 6]

968--I see your point and agree to a point--we have had situations where nbumerous calls were received for AA's in the same vicinity and it was still a check and advise issue--it has been getting better though. Our other issue is wrong location-I can understand a car passing an accident not getting the exact location--especially since people are not really paying attention during their daily commute. BUT when a patrol car on location gives hte wrong info--not good.

Anyway--there is really no right answer to this question. One way works better for some and other ways work better for others. I think the states new system down in Westchester is going to be a big help also. All the camera's on the highways being monitored sould give a good indication of location, size or the incident, etc

[engine968 8]

PVFD: I pretty much agree with you; there are no easy answers. Interesting that you mentioned wrong locations from police at scene. We've had a problem here with the State Police on that. The accident will turn out to be at a different place than originally reported, and either the trooper on scene doesn't tell his dispatcher the correct loc. or the disp. absent-mindedly gives us the original reported loc. instead of the correct one. I've had a couple of interesting exchanges with them when FD responded to where they said the trooper is and found nothing. Then they say, oh well, it's actually at the next exit, which is in a different fire district. Now we've sent a dept. out for nothing and have to re-dispatch the call to the correct dept. and 10 minutes has been lost in some cases. Very aggravating............

[Oswegowind 17]

Any dispatcher with a shred of common sense, an idea of the area, and who has been trained properly will do it as we've said from the beginning. Send em all out. You can always turn em around later.

That is questionable...it is all about the call taking as well as your departments protocol and how you are trained...certain departments don't send out fd/ems until they are requested by the officer or the dispatcher speaks to the driver or occupant of the vehicle and they relay they are hurt...most of these calls come in from passers by and we (police dispatchers) get many calls and no one really knows what has happenned...however if I speak to a person who says they are hurt, they get an ambulance immediately...and if there is no confirmed injuries then we wait for the car to advise...

[JBE 328]

A lot of the time, most of our info is coming from a computer link from NYPD or FDNY*EMS, so we rarely speak to the caller. When we do speak to a human being, a lot of different things happen. We either get the wrong location.(ESPECIALLY HIGHWAYS!!!) The caller doesn't know if there are injuries, and they usually say the vehicles involved are smoking.(Caused by boiling antifreeze oftentimes) They say the magic word, smoke, we send out the proper assignment. In my experience, we turn out what is necessary, and give EMS a tickle, because when people see those units coming up, a lot of the time, they will want to go get checked out at a hospital. I guess my philosophy is, better to turn em out and it be unfounded than not turn em out and end up getting jammed up.

[TR54 239]

Dispatch FD & EMS with the information you have.Do not delay.

This is the type of situation where the Fire Dept is told after the fact it took so long to get to the scene,,,, but in reality the hold up was in the "Check and advise"

Again SEND the FD & EMS.

[pjm1733 22]

Mike, I have no problem with emd, but for me its the minimum national standard. I try to go way beyond them. For many departments with slow response time they are needed, Face it, If you retone for a driver for the ambulance on a heart attack call for the 5th time or go mutual aid 3 departments to cover the same call or just have a very large area to cover. You need to do a little more phone work. I am lucky enough to "most" time's have trained personel on scene with in seconds if not minutes.

If i have to look up how to handle CPR,Heart Attacks,Child Choking,Missing,Bank Robbery,Fires or your everyday may'hem. well whats the sense in going to work

pull the relief valve

go back and look at my original posts on how i would dispatch this call.

no doubt about it, send them out

everybody go's

the original poster stated something like if no protocol in place what would you do in this case. makes me wonder

Muiltiple calls of the same incident take experience and more. Maybe i did not make clear all the follow up but i asure you it was done. It was accurate the original caller a home run means someone who knows what they are talking about.

No body follows, when in doubt, send them out ,more then I do

when your going out, your going with the best possible information.

Departments respond to situations differently and rightly so.

my remarks reflect my own opinion