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APCO SEEKS COMMENTS ON REVISIONS TO MINIMUM TRAINING STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATORS
July 1, Alexandria, Va. - The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International today released for comment a standard to identify minimum training requirements for public safety telecommunicators. The revision includes information for those typically charged with receiving, processing, transmitting, and conveying public safety information to dispatchers, law enforcement officers, fire fighters, emergency medical and emergency management personnel. This document seeks to define training in certain knowledge, skills, and abilities to be provided to telecommunicators by the agency, allowing different agencies to comply with the portions of the standard applicable to the functions within their agency.
The revisions were facilitated by APCO International’s Call Center Standards Committee, which is made up of public safety communications subject matter experts from across the U.S. The Georgia Public Safety Training Center compiled the research the committee conducted through regional Occupational Analysis Workshops over the past year to assist with the revisions. The Workshops consisted of consulting multiple panels of professionals representing each position and validation panels of each were conducted to produce job profile charts.
"APCO International is proud of the work of this committee to continually review and update this most important standard for our public safety professionals," APCO International President Chris Fischer said. "The issue of standardized training for telecommunicators has been the topic of much discussion lately and we are glad to provide this benchmark for the industry through our inclusive and iterative standardization process."
The draft is available for public review and comment through July 30 at www.apcostandards.org. After all comments are addressed and needed changes made, the final draft will be presented to the APCO International Executive Council for ratification. Following their approval, the final document will be facilitated through APCO International's American National Standards (ANS) process to become an American National Standards Institute- (ANSI) approved standard. The final standard is tentatively planned to receive approval in December 2009.
About APCO International
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to the enhancement of public safety communications. APCO International serves the professional needs of its 15,000 members worldwide by creating a platform for setting professional standards, addressing professional issues and providing education, products and services for people who manage, operate, maintain and supply the communications systems used by police, fire and emergency medical dispatch agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.apcointl.org.
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