Hall Ambulance's Communications Division Receives International Recognition
Hall’s Comm Center becomes one of only 154 accredited Centers of Excellence
Hall Ambulance Service’s Operational Communications Division (OCD) has been recognized as an Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED).
OCD is the second dispatch center in Kern County, and one of only 154 in the world to achieve this level of distinction.
Hall Ambulance Service Founder and President Harvey L. Hall said that, “ACE accreditation is the highest distinction for comprehensive implementation and compliance with the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) and its associated 20 Points of Excellence.”
In addition to requiring proper system oversight, medical control and quality improvement programs, accreditation demands careful MPDS compliance and certification for all emergency call takers and medical dispatchers. Being an accredited center means that life-saving interventions are performed over the phone using established protocol consistently and uniformly by the communications staff at Hall Ambulance Service time and time again in the pursuit of excellence.
Hall’s application process to become an ACE accredited dispatch center required months of statistical data,research, documentation, planning and checking protocol compliance against randomly selected events. Then, an onsite evaluation by the Academy’s Accreditation Board was arranged. After achieving the “Twenty Points” for accreditation necessary, the auditors provided a recommendation to the Board of Accreditation for recognition.
“There’s a tremendous amount of work that goes into achieving ACE status,” said NAED President Scott Freitag. “We’re certainly proud of Hall Ambulance Service’s accomplishment.”
“Accreditation demonstrates to not only each individual within the communications center, but to administration, our community and the world that Hall Ambulance Service is compliant with all international practice standards for Emergency Medical Dispatch,” says Jennifer LaFavor, manager of OCD. “It gives our call takers and dispatchers the recognition they deserve for their dedication to their work in EMS call taking and dispatching.”
Official recognition will take place at NAED’s Navigator Conference, scheduled April 18-20, 2012 in Baltimore, MD.
