EMS Dispatcher/Coms Specialist, Communication Center, 40 Hours

UMass Memorial Health•Worcester, MA

20h•Onsite

About The Position

This position is responsible for providing emergency communications and emergency medical dispatch instruction in accordance with all required protocols for E-911 for the City of Worcester, Towns of Shrewsbury, Westborough, and Leicester, as well as dispatching and flight coordination for UMass Memorial Life Flight, and other aeromedical programs. The role involves receiving E-911 calls, verifying caller information, providing emergency medical dispatch instructions, dispatching appropriate emergency services, and coordinating with police and fire departments. Additionally, the position handles the dispatching and coordination of emergency helicopters, including gathering patient information, establishing landing zones, developing flight plans, and ensuring safe operations. The role also involves monitoring aircraft, notifying receiving agencies, gathering information for trauma teams, identifying and reporting interdepartmental issues, maintaining reports, and updating databases. Assistance with ground ambulance and Life Flight staff coverage may also be required.

Requirements

High school graduate.
Must obtain and maintain the following certifications within 1-2 months of employment as a condition of employment: Current Enhanced E-911 certificate from the Massachusetts Statewide Emergency Telecommunications board.
Current APCO Public Safety Telecommunicator 1 certificate.
Current Emergency Medical Dispatch/Pre arrival Instruction Certificate from the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch.
CPR certification.
Exceptional customer service skills which include strong interpersonal and communication skills.
Ability to interact with all levels of personnel from physician to patient.
Ability to function independently, prioritizing workload while dealing with stressful situations.
Must have computer proficiency.
Must have thorough knowledge of hospital and interdepartmental functions.
Must have or obtain certification in APCO PST1, State E 9-11 and IAEMD.

Nice To Haves

Massachusetts certified EMT-Basic.
1 year emergency medical dispatch experience.

Responsibilities

Receives E-911 calls from the WRECC and the Town of Shrewsbury.
Verifies the caller’s address and call back number and provides Emergency Medical Dispatch instruction to all callers in a timely fashion.
Dispatches the closest appropriate level emergency ambulance to the caller’s location.
Enters all calls and times into the Computer Aided Dispatch Program.
Triages simultaneous calls to the appropriate services as directed.
Coordinates the appropriate first responder, such as Worcester/Shrewsbury Police or Fire, to allow for the most effective and efficient response to an emergency in the City of Worcester.
Receives requests and dispatches emergency helicopters.
Gathers pertinent patient information.
Establishes helicopter landing zones.
Determines landing zone latitude/longitude using computer mapping program and relays to the flight crew.
Develops flight plans for all flights.
Ensures of a safe landing zone prior to the aircraft arrival.
Coordinates all ground transportation of a patient to and from the helicopters.
Reads aviation weather forecasts as requested by the pilot on duty.
Obtains and verifies acceptance of all helicopter patients into the receiving hospital.
Performs conference call with the sending agency’s physician and a UMass Memorial accepting physician gathering patient information during the call for the flight crew.
Enters all calls into a helicopter computer aided dispatch program.
Monitors aircraft and if necessary, obtains the aircraft’s latitude and longitude and plots this information onto an aviation sectional map.
Notifies receiving agencies of type of patient and estimated time of arrival.
Gathers level of the in-coming trauma patient and pages the appropriate trauma team, when requested (for our programs only – LifeFlight and Worcester EMS).
Identifies any intra/interdepartmental problems related to timely, efficient, and courteous patient access into the UMMHC system and brings them to supervisor’s attention.
Maintains and completes daily, monthly, and ad hoc reporting as assigned by the department’s manager.
Manages landing zone computer database updating as required.
When requested, assists with ground ambulance and Life Flight staff coverage, in accordance with Department Policies and Guidelines