By John Asbury
The Press Enterprise
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — A frantic woman called 911, pleading for help because her husband was choking. Over the phone, a Cal Fire dispatcher was able to talk the woman through instructions to perform CPR that may have saved her husband’s life.
The new Emergency Medical Dispatch system allows dispatchers to give life-saving information on 911 calls as paramedics are dispatched simultaneously.
It is a new system, implemented this week, and is expected to reduce the number of resources spent on medical calls, Riverside County Fire Chief John Hawkins said
I think he’s dying,” the woman calling about her husband told dispatchers. “He’s not breathing.”
In the following minutes, the dispatcher gave instructions on chest compressions and how to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation until he was breathing again.
“I’m very proud of our dispatchers for what they did,” Hawkins said. “It’s a very difficult environment, as you can tell when someone’s family member is dying right in front of them.”
Paramedics will continue to respond to medical emergencies, but now dispatchers will be able to distinguish between sending unnecessary engines or resources.
Dispatchers receive between 325 to 425 calls per day. About 85 percent of those calls are medical emergencies, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Phil Rawlings said.
The new system is also expected to decrease response times and lights-and siren-runs.
Previously dispatchers would relay the 911 calls to paramedics and authorities. Now, dispatchers have a list of instructions and advice to relay to distressed callers tailored to individual emergencies.
The program was implemented for $185,000 by Riverside County supervisors. It’s intended to make an easier transition when the county redirects 911 calls from cellphones from the California Highway Patrol to Riverside County sheriff’s dispatchers in the coming years. There is no estimated date for the conversion.
Dispatchers are trained through a national program, including 18 hours of annual training to maintain credentials.
“In some cases, this is hopefully going to be a life-saving situation,” Rawlings said. “This will allow us to begin treatment during the call event and augmenting that with additional first-response resources.”
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