Continuing Dispatch Education

Many, if not most, professional organizations require members to complete some form of continuing education. Continuing education helps ensure that professionals stay up to date with evolving science, industry trends, and best practices. Additionally, people who are learning and growing tend to be happier and more effective in the things they do.

As Robert Martin, former Executive Director of the then-National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch^® (NAEMD^™), points out in this 1993 Blast from the Past article, “continuing dispatch education, or CDE, is a key component in academy recertification … The pursual of CDE is an important component of maintaining the professionalism and integrity of Emergency Medical dispatch^™ [EMD^™].”

Although times have changed, one thing has not changed—the Academy’s commitment to CDE. In the article, Martin explains that the Academy “can provide an information and support ‘clearing house’ to assist an agency in initiating, enhancing, and sustaining” a CDE program. While the Academy can still be a support clearing house, it is now also a producer and storehouse of valuable CDE content.

In early 2000, the Academy and Priority Dispatch^® launched the EMD Advancement Series^™. Originally released on CD-ROM, this groundbreaking series was designed to provide background information on the specific issues EMDs encounter every day. Taking things one step further, the lessons then explain exactly how the MPDS^® helps EMDs address these issues. The EPD Advancement Series^™ and the EFD Advancement Series^™ were added in 2014 and 2016, respectively, to do the same thing for the PPDS^® and FPDS^®.

CDE Online^™, which evolved into The College of Emergency Dispatch^™, launched in 2015 as an online home for the Advancement Series lessons and other CDE content. The College now hosts a wide variety of dispatch-specific courses including: the Advancement Series, the Practice Series^™, Journal Quizzes, ProQA^® and AQUA^® software courses, Special Procedures Briefings, Update Presentations, and more.

In addition to the College, the Academy, working with Priority Dispatch and Call Simulator^™, launched AI SkillLab^™ in 2019. AI SkillLab is a simulation training platform for Emergency Dispatchers that uses AI voice technology to simulate callers, allowing Emergency Dispatchers to role-play without a partner. AI technology allows each simulation to feel true to life.

The average person calls for emergency help only a few times in their lifetime. For most callers, these are pretty bad days. As a professional Emergency Dispatcher, you are on the other end of the line ready to provide help. In some cases, your help might save a life. In all cases, your help can make a bad day just a little bit better. CDE helps you keep your skills sharp so you are ready to handle any call that comes your way.