The following is paid content sponsored by Priority Dispatch.
By Police1 BrandFocusStaff
Emergency communication calltakers and dispatchers have among the toughest professions in the world. Day in and day out, they are responsible for protecting lives, safeguarding scenes, and directing EMS, police, and fire response to the right location with the right information.
To help navigate, agencies around the world rely on Priority Dispatch ProQA Paramount software – the driver behind the protocols developed by the International Academies of Priority Dispatch (IAED). In combination, the protocols and software give police the edge in law enforcement.
ProQA Police dispatching software increases the ability of dispatchers to quickly and correctly identify location and Chief Complaint, evaluate scene safety issues for bystanders and responders, and choose the most appropriate emergency response. With the right questions being asked, crucial scene information is available to stream immediately to responding officers—real time—through CAD including: descriptions of the vehicles, people, and weapons involved; scene safety alerts; whereabouts of suspects; caller safety; and more.
ProQA also decreases liability, since proven quality practices are documented within the software’s capability, and, also, helps reduce costs through appropriate resource allocation. The use of Pre-Arrival Instructions allows for immediate emergency care whenever appropriate, including: what a caller should do when he or she is in danger from an active assailant, what to do if a bomb is suspected, how to escape from a vehicle sinking in flood water, and many other situations that benefit from prompt over-the-phone instructions while the caller is waiting for officers to arrive. It creates a multi-agency environment where dispatchers can seamlessly move calls through protocols as needed.
Features include:
Cursor Priority
When ProQA Paramount recommends sending a Determinant Code, it may occasionally recommend multiple determinants for the calltaker to select the most appropriate choice. The green selection on the screen shows the ProQA Paramount recommended choice (shift-able determinants), giving agencies the ability to change the default recommended choice to meet the unique needs of the community.
Smart Post-Dispatch Instructions
Smart PDIs are enabled or disabled based on whether or not the Pre-Instruction Qualifier (PIQ) applies to the situation, which is determined by the information obtained during the caller interrogation.
The feature accurately identifies the correct party described using terms such as ‘Suspect’, ‘Missing Person’ or ‘Contact’. These descriptions then can be transmitted to participating agencies, including U.S. crime databases. It also lets agencies pre-define standard abbreviations for certain frequently asked description items, such as gender, hair color and vehicle color.
Finally, to eliminate distractions, Smart PDIs gray out instructions that are not appropriate for the situation based on information obtained during caller interrogation.
Enhanced Description Essentials Tools, Modified CAD
ProQA Paramount’s Description Essentials (DE) text fields have been expanded for all public-safety dispatchers.
The HAZMAT Information tool provides fields to identify and record the NA or UN numbers of the chemical(s) involved. New data tools in ProQA Paramount Police include Caller is Hostage Taker/Kidnapper, Suspect/Caller Characteristics, and Bomb Description. Agencies can also predefine items such as vehicle color, gender, hair color, and eye color. In addition, law enforcement agencies can predefine items and have more space to enter information in the Caller Statement and Description Essentials fields.
ProQA Paramount’s modified CAD interface also allows sorts Key Questions in CAD according to the importance of the answer (such as “Weapons were not involved or mentioned” vs. “Weapons were involved or mentioned. A knife is involved”).
Text Messages
ProQA Paramount software has the ability to send SMS compatible, exact protocol-based text the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. CADs that support this feature can relay SMS text containing Case Entry Questions, Key Questions, and Dispatch Life Support (DLS) Instructions. This includes the lifesaving Pre-Arrival Instructions (PAIs) and safety warnings exactly as they are written in the Medical, Police, and Fire Priority Dispatch Systems.
CAD systems that support this feature can relay SMS text containing Case Entry Questions, Key Questions and Dispatch Life Support Instructions. This includes the lifesaving Pre-Arrival Instructions and safety warnings exactly as they are written in the police dispatch systems.
ProQA software support of text messaging meets recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposals requiring wireless carriers and providers of “interconnected text messaging applications” to support the ability of sending messages to 9-1-1 in all areas where PSAPs are also prepared to receive the texts.
Learn more about ProQA Paramount’s features by watching this short demo.