Livingston County 911 Central Dispatch has made a name for itself on a statewide and international level, having recently achieved police accreditation.

The Board of Accreditation of the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) approved Livingston County Central Dispatch as an Emergency Police Dispatch Center of Excellence last week. 911 Director Chad Chewning says Livingston County Central Dispatch became the first medically accredited center through the IAED in March of 2017. Central Dispatch is now the first in the state to achieve police accreditation through the same organization. This achievement also places the 911 center 15th in the world to become an Emergency Police Dispatch Accredited Center.

The accreditation process takes approximately six months and required Central Dispatch to go through the IAED’s “20 points of excellence”. The system reviews policies and procedures, how emergency calls are processed, and the center’s quality of customer service. Chewning says the process helps dispatch provide the best possible care to callers no matter what the situation is.

Chewning tells WHMI there is still another level dispatch hopes to achieve. This fall, dispatch plans to pursue fire accreditation, which would make them a “tri-ace” center. If dispatch were to achieve that goal, Chewning says it would place them somewhere between the 10th and 12th spot in the world as a system with all three components. (DK)