Manatee 911 center garners accreditation for its police, medical and fire dispatches

Manatee County’s Emergency Communications Center is now one of two in the state and 13 in the world to have a triple accreditation from an international nonprofit that sets standards for dispatch centers.

The 911 center last week received the highest level of recognition for its police dispatch from the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch, or IAED, earning itself the title of a “Triple-ACE,” or Accredited Center for Excellence, agency.

The other two areas Manatee County’s ECC has this designation are medical and fire, which were first received in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Designations need to be resubmitted every three years. The other dispatch center in Florida to have reached this achievement is in the city of St. Cloud.

“It ensures the safety of our callers and the safety of our responders,” said Heather Hedgcock, the center’s quality assurance coordinator.

Hedgcock has been at her position for the past six years, and this triple status has been on her mind ever since. She came up with a plan in January to revise this quality assurance program in order to achieve this goal by the end of the year.

“It’s a huge accomplishment for me and I’m excited that our agency was able to get there,” she said.

To get the designation, the 911 center is graded on 20 different factors, including IAED training and certification, policies, code of ethics and a dispatch review committee.

The center has also increased the number of random emergency calls per month that they review to 230, nearly twice as many than before. Monthly meetings open up opportunities for feedback and more training if necessary.

Chief Jake Saur, who runs the emergency communications center, said it was a collaborative effort between dispatchers, quality assurance, training team members and administrative staff.

“The goal of achieving triple accreditation is to ensure that MCECC provides the highest level of care to every 9-1-1 call received from those facing an active emergency, and give the citizens of Manatee County the highest possible chance of survival in what could potentially be any type of life-threatening situation,” he said.

This story was originally published November 23, 2017 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Manatee 911 center garners accreditation for its police, medical and fire dispatches."