St. Louis County 911?

Many departments have questions and are not familiar with the operations of the St. Louis County 911 Center in Virginia, a.k.a. "Midway." The center is staffed 24/7 with three dispatchers. The staff includes 12 full-time and 4 part-time employees. With 13 ambulance services, 46 fire departments, 29 first responder units, and 16 law enforcement agencies it can get overwhelming at times. Our agencies handle emergency and non-emergency calls for approximately 5,040 sq. miles, and also respond within surrounding counties. Here are some common questions asked of us:

Why does it take some time for dispatchers to answer me when calling on the air?

We only have three dispatchers to handle phone calls, Fire/EMS, and Law Enforcement radios. If we have more than one 911 line or administration line ringing, we may not be able to answer you right away. Always wait for a dispatcher to acknowledge you before transmitting your message, because they may be busy on the phone - the absence of radio traffic doesn't mean the dispatcher isn't busy!

Why must I say "Anywhere Department to Midway?"

The US DOT and IFSTA curriculum teaches Fire/EMS personnel to use the "hey you it's me" when calling someone on the radio. Local policy, however, must be followed like any other protocol. All the users agencies agreed upon identifying yourself first then calling dispatch or another unit when the policy was written.

How does HIPAA affect dispatchers?

We don't give out the name of the patient over the air if at all possible. As you know, in Northern MN, cell phone reception is not that great. Sometimes the only way a department can find an address is by us giving out the last name. Otherwise, we ask the department to call us by phone to give out names, key locations and blood borne pathogen information if applicable. We are caught in the middle on this issue and have to tread carefully when dealing with HIPAA and patient information.

How do mistakes occur with agencies being sent into another agency's service area?

When a call is answered, the first question we ask the caller is "What is your location?". This, believe it or not, is not always an easy answer. Most callers don't pay attention to what mile marker or nearest crossroad they passed when they call 911. We then ask questions to help us find their location and sometimes it's our best guess. Only a few cell phones have GPS coordinates shown when they dial 911. Just remember that we are using our best judgment and have patient care in mind when deciding which agency(s) to send.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me!

Geoff Galaski
GalaskiG@co.st-louis.mn.us