W. Va 911 dispatchers get medical aid scripts

By Rusty Marks
The Charleston Gazette

CHARLESTON, W. Va. — Kanawha County emergency dispatchers are now able to tell callers what to do in a medical emergency until an ambulance arrives.

“They have information at their fingertips,” said Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, a physician and chairman of the Kanawha County Metro 911 board’s medical welfare committee.

Although ambulances arrive within just a few minutes in most parts of the county, “there’s always some time that elapses,” Foster said.

Kanawha is one of the few counties in the state to have scripted instructions on 30 conditions for dispatchers to use, county officials said. Metro 911 officials worked with Charleston emergency officials and area doctors to come up with a flip file.

“This is kind of like a cookbook,” Foster said.

Instructions on the cards include CPR for children and adults and how to deal with gunshots or puncture wounds, drug overdoses or poisoning, burns, falls, chest pains, heart attacks, strokes, choking or labor and delivery.

“This is a huge, significant improvement,” said Metro 911 Director Carolyn Charnock.

Charnock said county officials spent about $150,000 for training, flip files and computer software. Metro 911 also will have to hire four more dispatchers to handle emergency calls.

“You need more call takers because you may be on the phone longer,” she said.

Emergency officials demonstrated the system Wednesday with a simulated call. A 911 dispatcher was able to tell a husband, step by step, exactly what to do after his wife went into labor while the couple waited for an ambulance.

During the demonstration, the dispatcher got all the way to the actual delivery before a simulated knock on the door indicated arrival of the ambulance. Charnock said emergency dispatchers would be able to walk callers all the way through delivering a baby if necessary.

Several states have programs in place to allow 911 dispatchers to guide callers through medical emergencies. Charnock said such programs are mandatory under Pennsylvania law.

A bill requiring all counties in West Virginia to provide similar services died in the last week of the legislative session. Charnock said Raleigh, Lincoln and Jefferson counties are among the counties in West Virginia that provide the service.

Copyright 2010 Charleston Newspapers

Full story: Kanawha firefighter ‘killed’ in Raleigh County flooding