By Gail A. Tierney
Public Information Officer

Starting in mid-October, the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office became the first agency in Florida to implement Emergency Police Dispatch, or EPD.

The basis for EPD is a unified standard of questions that call-takers ask to make sure the appropriate actions are taken.

Each call begins with “911, what’s the address of your emergency?” Then, depending on the circumstances of the situation, multiple questions are asked while the appropriate first responders are being dispatched. (The system also provides for immediate dispatch in life-threatening situations.)

The motto of EPD is “The right questions, the right response – every time.” This structured call-taking methodology ensures that calls are handled with consistency and accuracy – regardless of the experience level of any given call-taker.

Based on whatever information the call-taker receives, he or she will dispatch the necessary services to the scene, but will continue asking the caller critical and incident-specific questions to best match the response configuration to the seriousness of the incident.

Although the process may seem tedious to some callers, especially those who have called 911 before, the methodology of asking specific questions is a nationally proven, strategically sound way of following police protocols, determining appropriate responses and ensuring the safety of field responders and citizens alike.

Some examples of chief complaint key questions include:

• Were weapons involved or mentioned?
• Are you in immediate danger?
• Is anyone else in immediate danger?
• Where’s the suspect/person responsible now?
• I need to get the suspect’s description.
• I need to get the vehicle description.

According to Capt. Joe Eckstein, who oversees direction of the agency’s 911 communications center, EPD builds confidence in the community as well as efficiency in the center.

“There have been many highly televised incidents of 911 calls being handled improperly, and EPD is helping us make sure that doesn't happen," he added.

CCSO communications officers have been utilizing Emergency Medical Dispatch, or EMD, for many years to handle medically-related 911 calls.

The 911 communications center is currently accredited through the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch for EMD and will eventually achieve this distinction with EPD. The center also is one of only 50 centers in the United States to hold a public safety communications accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, or CALEA.

If you have questions about the new EPD call-taking process, please visit the prioritydispatch.net Web site, or call communications manager Michelle Virgilio at 352-249-2700.

Gail Tierney is public information officer for the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office. She has been with the agency for 20 years. Comments or suggestions may be directed to Gail at 352-341-7460 or gtierney@sheriffcitrus.org.