Westchester EMS Dispatching Changes

[firepilot]

Westchester County's Regional EMS Council will require all ALS dispatching be done trough EMD starting Janurary 1, 2013. With the deadline fast approaching, a few agencies have switched to 60 Control, the primary dispatch center for Fire/EMS in the county. However many agencies have yet to switch to, or Implement, EMD. My question is, are these agencies (mostly police dispatched) giving training to their own dispatchers to use EMD or are agencies waiting till the last minute to change to 60 Control. And are there any new frequencies planned for EMS dispatching?

Due to critical importance of pre-arrival instructions and resource prioritization associated with emergency medical calls, the Westchester REMSCO urges all dispatch centers to institute the use of Priority Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) with a quality improvement procedure. EMS agencies authorized by the REMAC to provide ALS services will be required to be dispatched by EMD Centers effective January 1, 2013

From WREMSCO Policy Statement: http://www.wremsco.org/WREMSCO_POLI...MS System Resource Utilization-8-Feb-2011.pdf

Some of the Agencies that have yet to Implement EMD:
-Harrison EMS
-Port Chester-Rye-Rye Brook EMS
-White Plains EMS (?)
-Mt Pleasant Medics (Briarcliff FD/EMS, Hawthorne EMS, Valhalla VAC, Sleepy Hollow VAC & Pleasantville VAC)
-Yorktown EMS and Yorktown Medic
-Ossining EMS Medics
-Scarsdale EMS

Thanks in advance!

 

[sc800]

Care 1 EMS (maybe?)

 

[firepilot]

Care 1 EMS (maybe?)

I don't think Care 1 does any 911 in westchester, just transports. So, this policy doesn't apply directly to them.