Predicting the future is possible, learning from the past is expected!
1/7/2022
“911, What is the location of your emergency?”
Almost every emergency from coast to coast begins with this short phrase. This phrase has become the crossroads of hope for the caller, and liability for the call taker and agency they work for. What happens next is often the largest direct impact on the results of the pending event. Out of 1000s of possible scenarios and variable, there are only two outcomes possible, positive or negative. But who is the judge of the definition of these results?
Emergency Services of 2022 will continue to mutate into something very different than it has been in the past decades. Each second of every event has never been scrutinized more than we will see in the near future. For years, 911 has fought to be classified as public safety, as first-responders, but, never in the 50+ years of 911 will 911 telecommunicators be more important than they will be in 2022 to the outcomes of all incidents.
What do “we” call a successful outcome? Getting a unit on scene in “X” amount of time? Catching a suspect of a crime? Providing lifesaving instructions during a cardiac arrest or structure fire? Or is it simply just following a defined protocol? The new truth of success is often not “our” choice. All public safety responders will forever be under the microscope and judgement of society. A society of our peers with very little understanding of the process that leads to the result. It's our job to accept and embrace the new challenge of perfection, more now than ever before.
Many will view this new focus as scrutinization of a broken system, some will view this as an unrealistic expectation, some will accept it and thrive. Every word, every action, every process is overdue for a full audit and update. Its time public safety understands that these expectations are a direct result of past outcomes. These past outcomes are the single best opportunity for us to learn, grow, and drive us to more positive results. How do we accomplish this? We should exceed the expectations of the public and demand more out of each other.
Proactive reactions through proper policy review, quality assurance, and progressive training, will become the only accepted way to reduce liability and ensure success. Not only focusing on mistakes made but focusing on successes as well. “We” can always be better at our job. Perfection in public safety should be a goal that is always advancing and pushing us to keep learning.
Stay ahead of the next media request for a recording or video footage by constant quality assurance reviews. Strive to catch risky habits or dated policies by using QA to ensure we are always learning and plan how to use this data to predict the future. Then train, train, train on the unexpected, because the unexpected is no longer the impossible.
For assistance with training or quality assurance please visit www.frontlinepss.com or www.deniseamberlee.org. Email RChambers@frontlinepss.com for a demo of Profession Standards, Body Worn Camera Review, Quality Assurance Review, or Training Tracking software today. 1 hour of your time could be the single most important step you take in taking your agency to the next level of liability protection.
Ryan Chambers
Account Executive at Frontline Public Safety Solutions
rchambers@frontlinepss.com
Published Jan 6, 2022