SWEETWATER COUNTY– The Sweetwater Combined Communications Center is excited to announce the implementation of the Medical, Fire, and Police Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS®, FPDS™, and PPDS™) to better serve the citizens of the City of Green River, City of Rock Springs and Sweetwater County in emergency situations.

Dispatchers using the newly implemented protocol system:

• Will follow nationally recognized standards
• Give universal, consistent care and service to every caller
• Gather critical emergency call information for responders
• Identify life-threatening situations
• Safely prioritize calls for appropriate and fast response
• Provide “Zero Minute” Dispatch Life Support using Pre-Arrival and Post-Dispatch Instructions

Implementing the (Medical, Fire, and Police) protocol enables dispatchers to accurately assess each emergency situation and send the best response possible while safeguarding valuable and limited emergency services resources and increasing safety for both citizens and responders.

One key benefit the Sweetwater Combined Communications Center will now provide is a constant stream of crucial and updated scene information to field responders en route. This information will better prepare responders to give precise assistance when they arrive at the scene.

Rock Springs Fire Chief Jim Wamsley states, “the Priority Dispatch System protocols, through intuitive questioning, provides the most direct information about emergency situations therefore responders can provide the most appropriate emergency responses.”

The Priority Dispatch System™ (PDS™) includes ProQA® software and/or cardsets, a three-day certification training course for emergency dispatchers, and continual quality improvement (QI) benchmarks and training.

All dispatchers who work on the new system are certified by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch® (NAED™) and must recertify every two years, completing 24 hours of continuing dispatch education (CDE) and passing all requirements for NAED recertification.

Proactive quality improvement (QI) benchmarks are an important part of the newly implemented Priority Dispatch System. Use of the PDS allows communications centers to assess the quality of the care they are providing their communities, allowing them to make positive adjustments to training and staff in response to these assessments.

The constantly evolving Priority Dispatch System (PDS) will help provide the highest standard of care to the community, allowing (Emergency Medical Dispatchers, Emergency Police Dispatchers, and Emergency Fire Dispatchers) to better manage limited resources and increase the accuracy and efficiency of the dispatching process.

The Sweetwater Combined Communications Center employs 22 WYPOST Certified communicators serving the nearly 44000 residents and numerous other visitors to Sweetwater County. The Center handles all types of emergency calls including EMS, Fire, Police and Search and Rescue.

As this system of protocol implementation, training, and quality improvement is set into place, you can be confident the Sweetwater Combined Communications Center is earning the public’s trust with every call and is your best possible source of help during times of medical, fire, or police emergency