When someone in Wisconsin calls 9-1-1 with an emergency, they could get a dispatcher who is highly trained in providing detailed medical help over the phone – or someone who has virtually no such training. Wisconsin has no minimum training standards for dispatchers, and the American Heart Association thinks that should change. Bobbie Hicken is the Communications Operations manager in the Fond du Lac County Dispatch Center. Hicken says Fond du Lac County Dispatchers have received training. “If you don’t have anything in place, policies and very specific instructions, it opens up departments and individuals to liability,” Hicken told WFDL news. “…and it really relies on personal experience and knowledge. The system that we use is the same for every person regardless of if they’ve been here for five years, ten years or five minutes.” The American College of Emergency Physicians gave Wisconsin a ‘C-minus’ rating for a number of reasons, including the fact that the state has no uniform system for training dispatchers to give pre-arrival instructions over the phone. The American Heart Association is working to change that, and make sure all dispatchers are taught how to give C-P-R instructions over the phone. Hicken says depending on where the emergency is medical response times vary greatly, behooving the dispatcher to be able to give detailed C-P-R instructions over the phone while the ambulance is enroute.
