WATCH: How Red Deer’s integrated 911 communications centre works quickly to save lives

In a simulated event (shown in the video below) a witness calls 911 after someone suffers a heart attack. A dispatcher then gives the caller CPR instructions prior to the first fire engine arriving at the scene.

“In a situation like that, seconds really do count,” White stressed. “We needed a defibrillator on scene, advance life paramedics with medications and the knowledge on how to revive someone in that state. The longer that takes the worse it is for patient outcomes.”

An average day sees the centre handle between 220 to 300 calls.

The centre serves an area that has 450,000 people living in it and handles dispatch for 72 different fire departments and 20 ambulances.

There are typically seven personnel working in the Red Deer dispatch centre at any given time. Of them, two or three receive 911 calls while two handle fire truck dispatch. There’s also an ambulance call taker and an ambulance dispatcher.

“The real-time sharing they do, and the inter-agency coordination, is a really big part of what we do every day. We want to make sure that we maintain that level of services for the people we serve,” said White. “It makes a big difference when we can share that information with all of the responders at the same time. We see really positive patient outcomes because of that ability.”

White estimates that calls handled locally can be dealt with between 18 to 22 seconds faster than by another centre.

“We’re really proud of the work that our dispatchers do here. They’re highly trained professional staff and can process a call very quickly.”

Local knowledge of locations is another advantage staff at the Red Deer dispatch centre have, White noted.

“We (get) a lot of callers who don’t know their exact location. They’re either driving or out for a walk and know their general location, but when it comes to an emergency they realize very quickly that they don’t know their exact location. Our staff here has a real good knowledge of the local area. They live and work here so they understand the area and are able to help those folks through the use of landmarks and other resources to determine where they are so we can get the help to them.”

Fire medics in Red Deer are also trained for advanced life support, which White says is key given the fact that fire trucks arrive first at the scene of an emergency about 40 per cent of the time.

“They’re able to provide the same advanced care for the patient that an ambulance will be able to provide. So it’s critical that they have the information they need prior to arriving on scene,” he explained. “They’ll perform that care until the ambulance arrives, then transfer care to the ambulance (crew) and continue to assist the paramedics in patient care. In some instances staff from the fire truck will actually go in the ambulances to the hospital to support that care.”

White says their other main area of concern, along with patient outcomes, is responder safety.

“We have a lot of calls that come into the centre where there’s the potential for responder safety concerns, and if we’re not getting that information out to the fire crews who are responding there, 40 per cent of the time, faster then that’s a real concern for us.”

The move by AHS to consolidate dispatch services is set to take effect in January.

Mayors urge health minister to cancel EMS dispatch consolidation

Health Minister sees no evidence consolidating EMS dispatch will hurt response times

by Troy Gillard

WATCH: How Red Deer’s integrated 911 communications centre works quickly to save lives

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