Do you use EMD, EFD, or EPD???

just curious how many of you out there use any of the emergency dispatch protocols... in our center we only use EMD at this time, but ther eis talk of gettin gthe EPD, and EFD also.. not a bad idea, especially when you have a high turnover (like we do, in the 3 years I have been here I have seen 18 new hires, and most of them are gon enow) This way you know the pertinent questions are gettng asked. While not prefect, I think the EMD is a good itdea......... thoughts??? Brianna

I have to say that the only acronym I'm familiar with is EMD if you mean Emerg Med dispatch. Otherwise I'm not familiar with any of that. We are a secondary PSAP though, so no 911, fire or medical dispatching for us. Just police.... Dina

Guess I should have clarified that, yes, Emerg Medical, Emerg Fire and Emerg Police Dispatch protcols....

We're only using EMD here. I think EMD is a good thing also, except when the caller doesn't let you finish your questions... ugh! (but that is with anything - right....lol). I think EPD and EFD would be cool but I'm on a military base and I can only imagine trying to get all the MP's trained. It was hard enough with EMD and the codes. lol! Sheryl

We use EMD. We do have EPD cards to use in case of Police type calls, but it's the basic questions...... Where, who, description, weapons... etc. EMD is used in this area. It is our safe haven. Our cards are approved through the local medical board here, and then sent off to the state & APCO for approval and if they pass all of those, then they are typed up and sent to all surrounding agencies. We are the main PSAP in our Wiregrass area. It is a headache sometimes, because we do have a few agencies that are not EMD certified, and therefore, transfer their calls to us to give CPR. Usually it's some small agency that has a volunteer rescue squad and the caller lives out in the middle of no-where, and I'm stressing because I'm online giving CPR instructions for 10minutes or longer!! It's not something I enjoy by any means. I usually have to take a few minutes to myself after that. Sherri

Hi Brianna and everyone else---we use EMD at our center here in Rochester, New York. It has saved lives and welcomed more than a few new infants born at home. I don't like the responsibility of doing it cause I have no medical background at all myself, but I know that it works and it is a good program. We did a trial program of the EPD for a while, but we finally got rid of that. Most of us have been dispatching and answering phones for 15 years or more and we found that the EPD didn't work as well for our center as our tried and true methods do. It was a real relief to go back to our comfortable way of gathering the vital info. I've been a police dispatcher for 20 years and I was a TCC for one year prior to that. In our center we have eleven dispatch lines and a minimum of eleven phone operator lines. The dispatchers also have to rotate through the TCC positions. We spend some time on the phones at least once a week and sometimes for an hour or two when we are going through a dispatch line as well. Our full time TCC's are much better at EMD than the police dispatchers are, but we are required to keep our scores up and it really does work.