There are three key points regarding the dispatching of first responders which should be carefully evaluated with local 9-1-1 and public safety agencies when considering a safety solution for a school:
1. Call 9-1-1 Directly
Interfering with someone’s ability to communicate directly with 9-1-1 delays response and adds confusion. Direct verbal communication with 9-1-1 is ideal. In order to effectively manage the response, it is critical that the PSAP have direct communication with those involved in the incident that can provide real-time information.
Alarm interfaces are helpful in providing a warning but do not provide the level of “eye witness” information needed to most effectively coordinate response. Solutions that impede direct communication with 9-1-1 via a third party monitoring center, or first go through a school administrative contact, are also discouraged. Direct communication is the fastest and most effective way to get the right resources dispatched in the most expedient manner.
In some locales, landline and mobile phones may actually route to different PSAPs, affecting the response process. When determining a response plan for a school (or business, for that matter), coordinating with 9-1-1 and public safety to understand how calls are routed locally, as well as understanding response procedures, will significantly enhance the response should an incident occur.
2. Self Dispatching is Strongly Discouraged
Self dispatching is the process of officers responding to an incident without having been directed to do so by a central dispatch/incident command point. A growing number of apps claim to improve law enforcement response times by alerting users of the app to an incident. This is dangerous and leading public safety agencies strongly discourage the practice:
- “The use of self-dispatched resources is highly discouraged.” – FEMA, NIMS resource manual
- “The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) discourage the practice of self-dispatch among emergency response personnel to emergency incidents without notification or request.” – IAFC Policy Statement, August 2002
- “Self-dispatch can be common practice in many areas but it is unacceptable. When mutual aid agreements are effective, needed units will respond properly and unsolicited aid will only get in the way. Dispatchers should prohibit units listening in from self-dispatching to the incident scene. Only units properly responding to a mutual aid or automatic aid agreement should be allowed to participate in incident response.” – Department of Homeland Security, Lessons Learned Information Sharing