- A new statewide system provides dispatchers real-time air ambulance locations.
- Implemented through a transportation bill, it reduces response times for trauma cases.
OGDEN — Inside the 911 dispatch center for Weber and Morgan counties, dispatchers have a new tool at their disposal that is helping shave minutes off response times for some of the most crucial calls.
"With trauma, time is of the essence," Weber 911 Executive Director Kevin Rose explained. "Every minute counts. We want that patient in the hands of a surgeon as soon as possible."
Rose said the feature is something he's been asking for for several years, but it's been difficult to coordinate between dispatch centers, hospitals and multiple air ambulances. He, however, was surprised to learn earlier this year that state legislatures were requiring a uniform system to make it happen with the passage of a massive transportation omnibus bill.
Systems came online statewide last month, and Rose said the results, so far, are impressive. Dispatchers, as well as emergency responders in the field, can pull up a map with the current locations and status of air ambulances.
"We're not making multiple phone calls anymore," Rose said. "We're able to know exactly who is available and who's close to us and get them dispatched fairly quickly."
Rose said that dispatchers would previously have to start with the nearest hospital, or the location they believed to be the nearest helicopter.
"It was very stressful," Rose explained. "Especially when you made a phone call to find out that they're not really available, and you're trying to make different phone calls, and you know that there's a severely injured person that's waiting for that resource."
Once the air ambulance is on the way, dispatchers and responders on the ground can also use the location data in the system to anticipate how far out they are, and when they'll need to be ready to transfer a patient.
"It's been fantastic, both for the dispatchers and for the field responders," Rose said.
