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Contact: Doug Moore
(719) 351-0222
doug.moore@amr.net
AMR TO DISPATCH AMBULANCES FROM POLICE OPERATIONS CENTER
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, November 21, 2004 – American Medical Response (AMR) and the Colorado Springs Police Operations Dispatch Center (POC) have partnered together in an effort to provide enhanced ambulance and fire department emergency response for the City of Colorado Springs . This effort was brought forth to further improve response times for 9-1-1 medical calls. The current response time standard is to be on the scene of calls in eight minutes or less 90% of the time, a national standard set in the ambulance contract with the City of Colorado Springs and El Paso County . AMR has maintained or exceeded this standard every month since the inception of the contract in 1997.
"Our long term goal is to work with our system partners to bring emergency medical response times in the city closer to the six minute standard promoted by the Colorado Springs City Council," said Ted Sayer, AMR Director of Operations. "By integrating and coordinating AMR and fire department Advanced Life Support (ALS) resources together as first response units, we are revolutionizing the way emergency medical service could be provided across the nation."
The partnership began on Monday, November 15, 2004, as an AMR dispatcher was placed at the POC to sit side by side with the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) dispatchers, allowing the dispatchers to deploy resources on a real time basis throughout Colorado Springs with greater efficiency and improved communications.
Before the side by side communications effort began, the dispatchers were in two separate buildings, eight miles apart. The dispatchers communicated by a Computer Automated Dispatch (CAD) to CAD link, which allowed the AMR dispatcher to see the calls as they were entered into the system by the call- taker at the POC. This interface also allowed automated call receipt and time stamping to occur at the POC for call intake verification.
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