IAED Membership Through The Years

Many of our longtime members of the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch^® (IAED^™) are familiar with the protocol’s origins—a story that begins in 1974 at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana (USA), where a bright but scared young medical intern with a passion for driving ambulances was now questioning his career choice. He was trying to survive his rotations in the “High Blood” and “Sugar” clinics (nicknamed by the residents) and hoping he wasn’t killing anyone in his highly stacked case load.

That young man was Dr. Jeff Clawson, and fortunately for him, his patients, and the dispatch world he’s influenced since, he had one unlikely conversation that changed his course forever: “What you need, my man, is a protocol.”

The wisdom came from the supervising resident, JV Jones, as he pulled a dog-eared set of cards out of the pocket of his extra-long lab coat. Though he didn’t know it yet, Dr. Clawson’s new future was now held together with a rubber band in his hand.

That night, he studied the “cookbook” of protocols with a new set of eyes. He saw how sets of symptoms could be grouped together and used to check for crucial indications, streamlining the ability to meet the needs of each patient without reinventing the wheel. It was logical, reproducible, and maybe even lifesaving—at least for him.

From there, Dr. Clawson applied his knowledge and belief in protocols with his passion for emergency dispatch, and the initial version of the Medical Priority Dispatch System^™ (MPDS^®) was soon in development (test released in 1978) with finalized training and implementation in September 1979.

Certification origins

While working for the Salt Lake City Fire Department part time, and concurrently working in the ER at Cottonwood Hospital (Utah, USA), Dr. Clawson didn’t expect to be given much time to conduct this training. He was thrilled when the Fire Chief gave him three days, which he says “poured the cement” to shape the course ever since.

“Three days is a short period of time to train and certify,” Dr. Clawson said. “The challenge was to take the entirety of knowledge gained in medical school and on ambulance runs and condense that down to something Emergency Dispatchers (many with absolutely no medical experience) could use within a short timeframe. They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill, and we had 24 hours (+1 extra hour allotted for testing initially) to prepare people to have lives in their hands. Every word had to matter.”

In preparation for his first official Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) course in 1979, Dr. Clawson boiled down each protocol to critical elements and created a teaching outline. He keeps an original copy of it at arm’s length today, showcasing a spiral-bound cover with a beehive and caduceus design he had invented on an Atari computer while still in medical school at the University of Utah and working for Gold Cross Ambulance (Utah, USA). The outline had protocol teaching points along with rationale, developing a unique and organized way of thinking catered to the dispatch environment.¹

In collaboration with Bob Peters, a sheriff, paramedic, and comm. center manager for Davis County (Utah, USA), Dr. Clawson added basic dispatch principles to the training, such as Danger Zones. The two began team-teaching with Peters taking the first day of the course to break the ice and teach CPR and dispatch basics. Dr. Clawson took the second and third days to teach medico-legal and the protocols.

“Our training was so different from what these dispatchers had experienced, which was virtually no formal training,” Dr. Clawson said. “We experienced some pushback, but I just knew it was the right thing, in spite of opposition.

In fact, in one Los Angeles (California, USA) training, Dr. Clawson was asked, “You may be a doctor, but what do you know about dispatch?” He responded, “Let’s see over the next couple of days.”

At times, the EMD certification course was split up to accommodate different shifts, built around a “Kelly” schedule (alternating 24 hours on/24 hours off, followed by three days off). In LA, their internal shifts were called “flights,” with a unique schedule that required day one of the course to be taught repeatedly one week, then day two taught repeatedly over the next week, etc.

At one point, Dr. Clawson had to report to the Los Angeles City Fire Commission, leaving his course in the hands of co-instructor Scott Hauert—who happened to be president of the Utah EMT Association and field supervisor for Gold Cross Ambulance. In Dr. Clawson’s absence, the course members had Hauert backed into a corner about why all this training and protocol was necessary for the “greatest fire department in the world.” When Dr. Clawson arrived back, he said, “Well folks, all I can say is I’m here because of your performance over several years, so thanks for the job!”

Certification advancement

The Council of Standards was created later in 1990 as the Academy’s expert body of research, development, and evidence-based standards (now applied to medical, fire, police, nurse triage, and quality assurance).

Shortly afterward, the IAED instituted its first Curriculum Board to refine and evolve instructional courses to train and certify protocol users, holding them to a higher role of professionalism with an established Code of Ethics (late 1980s) and additional Code of Conduct (2009).²

Just as the protocol evolved, so did the course curriculum, packing more complexity, range, background, and hands-on practice into 24 hours of instructor-led learning than ever before. Along the journey, certifying in CPR became a prerequisite so the entirety of the course could be focused on the protocol. In addition, the foundational Emergency Telecommunicator (ETC) Course provided an option for learning the basics of dispatch before discipline-specific certification (such as the Danger Zones).

“At times, we’ve had suggestions to extend the EMD course to four days to cover more of the advancements to the protocol and additional tools available today,” said Pam Stewart, Board of Certification Chair. “But we’ve kept the three-day EMD course and added two-day EFD (2000) and EPD (2001) courses along the way to prepare our Emergency Dispatchers.”

The adaptability to meet every learning style through deliberately designed adult teaching methods is a commendable part of each course’s curriculum.

“Whether it’s taking notes, hearing calls, flipping through protocols, looking at slides, or participating in interactive scenarios, the course is just as dynamic as the protocol they’re learning,” Stewart said.

Each element of the certification courses combines to prepare IAED members not only to understand protocol in an academic sense, but to practice their own application of it—developing confidence and muscle memory.

However, the brevity of these courses indicates an essential case for continuing dispatch education (CDE), a passion of Dr. Clawson’s as a lifelong learner himself. Obviously, part of retaining best practices is requiring Emergency Dispatchers to stay current with the never-ending, evolving research and application to their profession. Today, the IAED requires certified Emergency Dispatchers to recertify every two years by passing a recertification exam and providing evidence of 24 additional hours of CDE.

As a primary source of these hours, the annual NAVIGATOR conference (now seven total worldwide) has become a great source of collaborative learning, with multiple days of industry- and standard-specific presentations. Emergency Dispatchers can also visit the College of Emergency Dispatch, which has a wealth of lessons and materials for recertification, clarification, education, and personal edification. To date, the College has 216 courses available, and over 1,717,074 courses completed.

Meeting the requirement for CDE has never been easier, especially if Emergency Dispatchers keep an even pace of an hour each month (rather than rush the requirements in the last month before expiration).

Certification defines professionalism

The number of IAED members has increased through the years, hitting large milestones at an impressive rate. By June 29, 1994, the first milestone of 10,000 members was celebrated. Two years later, that number rose to 17,000.

Today, the IAED is a global network with 4,333 agencies who have implemented the medical, fire, police, and/or nurse triage protocols. The IAED protocol systems are available in 32 languages and dialects and utilized in 61 countries including Malaysia, China, Brazil, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Kingdom. This includes the entire countries of New Zealand, Australia, Qatar, and Canada.

Currently, the IAED thrives with an astounding 17 Boards and Councils. The main governing bodies include the Board of Certification, Board of Accreditation, Curriculum Council, and Councils of Standards—each operating on thousands of volunteer hours each year as a member-driven effort to shape the landscape of emergency dispatch.

“The IAED’s Boards and Councils have truly built the Academy,” Stewart said. “From that foundation, the expanding global membership validates the competency of the Emergency Dispatcher, increases the profession, and breeds trust in the public that they are receiving the highest standard of care and practice,” Stewart said. “Our interconnectivity demonstrates how our protocols, courses, and membership can be universally beneficial.”

In her 23 years of service to the IAED, Stewart has observed the trickle-down effects of what a true standards-setting organization can achieve.

“Our IAED agencies recognize the importance of what certification means, and they remain firmly committed to upholding these standards,” Stewart said. “The Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics ensures the highest level of professionalism required of each Emergency Dispatcher, every call.”

At the time of writing, the IAED currently has 87,438 members with an average of over 21,000 new certifications and about 28,500 recertifications each year. To maintain the growing need for courses, the IAED hosted 12 Instructor Recertification Workshops in 2024 and 14 Instructor Academies that graduated 48 new discipline-certified instructors—each ready to instruct and inspire the next generation of Emergency Dispatchers.

As the profession advances, best practices create new heights. Over the years, hundreds of centers around the globe have been recognized by the IAED as Accredited Centers of Excellence (ACEs), having measurably achieved an elite level of compliance and standards of service. These distinguished centers are awarded based on their performance in individual disciplines. Currently, there are 267 Medical ACEs, 78 Fire ACEs, 38 Police ACEs, and 5 ECNS™ (Nurse Triaging) active ACEs. Of these centers, 26 agencies are recognized as having tri-accreditation (medical, fire, and police).³

Conclusion

Just as the protocol is pivotal in shaping the service of emergency calls, professional training and the certification process are crucial to the development of the Emergency Dispatcher profession. Through the years, the Academy has focused its efforts on setting standards while never losing its investment in the personal and professional growth of its members. Undoubtedly, certification has helped distinguish the role of Emergency Dispatchers—and their impact—as recognized today, far beyond the “glorified secretaries” of yesteryear. The term Emergency Dispatchers (always capped!) is only for IAED-trained and certified members.

Now some of the IAED’s earliest trainees are celebrating 40 years, showing a commitment that extends through the decades. That time represents a well-traveled road of progress, making each advanced certification process similar to the protocol—and as we “sportingly” say—perfect, again!

Sources

1. Clawson, J. “Dispatch Priority Training—Strengthening the Weak Link.” Journal of Emergency Medical Services. 1981; 6:32–36.

2. Stewart, P. “Road Map For The Profession.” Journal of Emergency Dispatch. International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. 2022; March 30. iaedjournal.org/road-map-for-the-profession (accessed March 23, 2026).

3. “Accredited Center of Excellence.” International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. 2026. emergencydispatch.org/what-we-do/accreditation (accessed April 13, 2026).