Emergency Communications Officer

St. Elizabeth Healthcare•Edgewood, KY

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Emergency Communications Officer serves as the multi-hospital system and medical group centralized communications and coordination hub during emergencies, incidents, and significant operational disruptions. This role is responsible for receiving, prioritizing, documenting and dispatching emergency and non-emergency calls; coordinating notifications and supporting incident command and operational leaders during Emergency Operations Plan activations. The role must ensure timely communication between hospitals, emergency departments, clinical teams, and internal operational departments. The ECO must maintain a high level of situational awareness, quick decision making, accuracy, and professionalism in a high-pressure environment. The position operates in close coordination with security, facilities, clinical operations and external emergency services. Demonstrate respect, dignity, kindness, and empathy in each encounter with all patients, families, visitors, and other employees regardless of cultural background.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
Successful candidates must pass a background check
Strong ability to manage multiple incoming requests in a high-stress environment.
Multitasking ability with rapid decision-making skills.
Excellent verbal communication, listening, and interpersonal skills.
Proficiency with computers, dispatch software, and communication technology.
Ability to work in a team environment and maintain good working relationships.
Customer Service experience
Situational awareness
Critical thinking & problem solving
Calm, effective communication under pressure
Accuracy & attention to detail
Teamwork and collaboration
Professionalism & confidentiality

Nice To Haves

Post-secondary education in emergency services, healthcare, or communications preferred.
Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) certification
CPR certification
Public Safety Telecommunicator certification (APCO/NENA)
Working knowledge of emergency response terminology and command structures (HICS/NIMS) preferred.
Familiarity with emergency communications systems, radios, and incident tracking tools are desirable.
ICS/FEMA training (ICS 100, 200, 700, 800)
Experience in emergency dispatching, public safety communications, EMS, or clinical care strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Receive, triage, and document incoming emergency and non-emergency calls from hospitals, staff, departments, clinical teams, emergency departments, the public and critical monitoring systems.
Determine call priority using established protocols, critical thinking, and clinical urgency indicators.
Activate internal emergency notification and response teams (e.g., Code Red, Code Silver, Active Shooter) according to policy and procedures.
Maintains continuous communication with responding teams during active events.
Dispatch internal and external resources, including hospital-based teams, security, EMS, transport units, and specialty response teams.
Coordinate air medical operations to ensure a proper security response.
Maintain continuous communication with clinical teams to ensure accurate, timely flow of information during critical events.
Monitors camera systems and alarms to dispatch as necessary.
Operate multi-line phone systems, radio networks, paging systems, emergency notification software, and CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch) platforms.
Monitor hospital system dashboards, camera systems and critical systems alerting panels, such as fire alarm panels.
Documents key actions, decisions and communications for operational logs and after-action review support.
Accurately document all calls, dispatches, and critical events in real time.
Ensure compliance with regulatory standards, including hospital policies, state guidelines, and accreditation requirements.
Provides situational updates to leadership, supervisors or command staff as incidents evolve.
Participate in incident reviews, quality improvement programs, and after-action documentation.
Participates in emergency drills, exercises and training activities.
Maintains familiarity with emergency codes, response protocols, and facility-specific procedures.
Maintain confidentiality and follow all patient privacy and safety policies.
Assist with emergency operations center activation during mass casualty incidents, monitor weather, traffic, and local events to anticipate, report, and respond to potential crises or internal disasters
Perform other duties as assigned.