911 Call Centers
Whether Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) or secondary centers – are critical to effective public safety. FirstWatch helps 911 call centers provide key information to EMS, fire and police first responders to help improve operations or for situational awareness, all in real time.
Public health has also come to recognize the value of monitoring 911 data to get real-time information about emerging threats, such as flu epidemics, poisonings or biological attacks.
In addition to providing key surveillance and operational information to their public health and safety partners, 911 centers can also benefit directly themselves. For example, centers use FirstWatch to monitor dispatcher call processing times, providing 911 center supervisors and dispatchers with real-time feedback.
FirstWatch
911 News & Resources
Key features for 911
Secure processes meet HIPAA requirements
FirstWatch systems and processes ensure security, meeting or exceeding all HIPAA requirements on privacy.
Sentinel event/situational awareness alerts
FirstWatch can be used to reduce workload and increase awareness by automating key notifications for sentinel or situational awareness events, such as the explosion of a bomb or suspicious clusters of patients that could be an indicator of an epidemic.
Early warning utility
FirstWatch can be set to alert for early signs of a chemical, biologic, radioactive or nuclear attack, or for naturally occurring events like epidemics.
Dashboards make data easy to visualize
Data is presented on dashboards so users can quickly and easily see the status of any dataset they wish to–and on any device that connects to the internet.
No new training
The process is automated, so there is no need for new training or any changes in how dispatch already works.
A variety of data sources
Information that is captured by a dispatcher or call-taker and entered into CAD can be monitored by FirstWatch in real-time. Additional sources with even greater detail, such as software like ProQA which provides structured dispatch protocols, provide even richer data. Even the unstructured information that a dispatcher enters into the “notes” field can be monitored for key terms. Some 911 centers are also working to have their phone, CAD, and ProQA data systems interface with FirstWatch to provide real-time analysis and metrics from first call ring throughout the call taking and dispatch process.
Customized alerting
When a FirstWatch trigger goes off, the user determines to whom and how an alert will automatically be sent–for example, pager, email, fax, text message, etc.
Pre-set or customized triggers
Users can use pre-set triggers to provide alerts for common types of incidents, and can also have customized triggers for their specific needs.
