By Sharon Kiley Mack
Bangor Daily News
Copyright 2006 Bangor Daily News
MACHIAS, Maine — In urban areas of Maine, where an E-911 call can have an ambulance at the caller’s front door in five minutes, obtaining urgent medical instructions from the dispatcher or operator on the phone may not be critical.
But for someone who lives in Township 21 in rural Washington County, it could take up to 40 minutes for help to arrive in an emergency.
Starting Jan. 1, all 911 dispatchers who work from public safety answering centers around the state are supposed to have been trained and certified to provide medical instructions on everything from delivering babies to helping a choking victim.
“This is a quantum leap forward for rural areas,” Washington County Communications supervisor Richard Moore said this week. “It will literally be a lifesaver.”
Before the standardized basic training medical course was offered this year for 911 operators, 40 percent of Maine’s public safety answering centers were unable to provide emergency medical information, including communications centers in Hancock, Somerset and Washington counties.
“The general public, mostly from watching television, often believes that if they make a 911 call, a paramedic will immediately show up at their door,” said Drexell White, emergency medical dispatch coordinator for Maine Emergency Medical Services. “The reality is this is a very, very rural state. In many places, that cannot happen.”
To address this gap, Stephen Bunker, director of the state Emergency Services Communications Bureau, along with the Maine EMS, pushed legislation that was enacted in the 2005 legislative session. Maine is the 20th state to adopt mandatory training sessions for 911 operators.
The law not only provided a mandate, but state funding for training 911 operators.
There are about 750 full-time 911 call-takers in the state, and an additional 200 part-time dispatchers, according to Bunker. Of that, about one-third have received the training to get their two-year certification.
The training costs are borne through the 50-cent monthly line charge added to telephone bills. About 3 cents of that half dollar is invested in training and professional development for dispatchers, Bunker said.
“We are finally getting to the point where EMD will become the standard of care in Maine,” White said. “This is a tremendous step forward.”
White said 911 dispatchers have long been called “the first first-responders” and the EMD training “closes the loop in providing emergency care as quickly as possible.”
Moore said there were 587,000 E-911 calls statewide in 2005, and many of them were for medical assistance.
After EMD certification, 911 dispatchers will use flip charts to relay medical instructions while simultaneously sending help.
“This turns a panicked caller into a medical provider,” Moore said. The flip charts that the dispatchers will use have been provided by three civilian contractors.
Individual dispatch locations and dispatchers will be licensed by Maine EMS, and Moore acknowledged Tuesday that some dispatchers are a bit uncomfortable with the new medical role.
“This is a major responsibility,” Moore said, adding that as long as a dispatcher stays focused on exactly what the flip charts state and does not stray into volunteered information, there should be no liability.
There are 45 public service answering centers in Maine.