APCO Global Alliance

Resolution Adopting the Tenets of Emergency Communications Personnel Certification

In today's increasingly complex and highly specialized field of emergency communications, the need for emergency communications personnel certification is critical to the safety and security of the traveling public.

Emergency communications personnel provide the essential conduit between the traveling public and police, fire, medical and rescue services in the host country. They are the lifeline for the public in times of peril. The emergency communications personnel’s ability to perform his/her duties is critical to the ability of emergency services to provide effective and timely response to the emergency.

The APCO Global Alliance members believe certification provides the basic construct to equip a person with the tools to perform better. To ensure the safety and security of the traveling public the members of the APCO Global Alliance deem it necessary for emergency communications personnel to be certified in a host country. The members of the APCO Global Alliance also believe that there should be a minimum standard for the cognitive and psychomotor skills required to perform the duties assigned to emergency communications personnel in a host country.

Resolution – Emergency Communications Personnel Certification

WHEREAS:

Emergency communications personnel are responsible for taking all calls made by the public to an emergency communication center; and

WHEREAS:

Emergency communications personnel are responsible for gathering all essential information from the caller about a possible emergency situation; and

WHEREAS:

Emergency communications personnel are responsible for dispatching all necessary emergency assistance (for example, fire, police, medical, rescue) to the scene of an actual or potential emergency; and

WHEREAS:

The purpose for establishing a certification program is to ensure that all emergency communication center personnel possess certain standard levels of training and competency that will enable the public to receive more effective and timely emergency response services; now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED:

That the APCO Global Alliance strongly supports the position that the emergency communications center hiring authority/agency should establish minimum training standards as for localized operational necessity, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That the members of the APCO Global Alliance duly and hereby establish a task force to examine matters related to emergency communications personnel certification and to develop recommendations for international standards. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That the members of the APCO Global Alliance recommend that the emergency communications center hiring authority/agency shall define the cognitive and psychomotor skills required to successfully achieving compliance with training standards.