Will County 9-1-1 Emergency Telephone System

Will County 9-1-1 System Minimum Training Standards

It is in the best interests of all parties that the Will County Emergency Telephone System establishes minimum training standards for all public safety telecommunicators working in any of the Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) within Will County.

This standard shall specify the minimum training requirements for all personnel assigned to any public safety telecommunications function; it also acknowledges that there is a need for on-going training in order to enhance and maintain the skill levels of all personnel.

General

  • Each PSAP may establish minimum training standards for their centers’, however; at no time may that training standard be less than that established by the Will County Emergency Telephone System Board.
  • Each PSAP may supplement the minimum standard with agency specific training as needed.
  • Each PSAP will provide training records to the Will County 9-1-1 Administrative offices on a yearly basis in order to confirm compliance with the standards. The 9-1-1 offices will be responsible for maintaining records of each telecommunicator’s training.

Training

  • Within the first year of hire by a PSAP, each telecommunicator shall receive no less than forty (40) hours of education. Initial training may include required training, such as Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD), LEADS, Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), and basic courses offered by approved vendors. (Required training is not reimbursable.)
  • All telecommunicators in Will County are required to be EMD certified through the partner program conducted by Joliet Junior College in conjunction with Will County 9-1-1 and Will-Grundy EMS and to keep their license and CPR certification current.
  • Following the initial year of training, all telecommunicators should accumulate no less than twelve (12) hours of continuing education per calendar year. This training may include courses offered by approved vendors, ride-a-longs, re-certifications and other agency specific required training.
  • Required training, while attributable to a telecommunicator’s required CE hours, is not eligible for reimbursement.

Approved Vendors

PSAPs may send their personnel to any class that is deemed specific to 9-1-1 Dispatch. PSAPs shall contact the Training Coordinator to register their personnel into a training course. Following attendance at a training class, each participant will be required to complete a course evaluation. The Training Coordinator will monitor these evaluations and if a course receives consistently low evaluations, the course will not be offered and/or eligible for reimbursement.

9-1-1 Dispatch Related Training is included in the Training Reimbursement Program. Any center sending their personnel to training is eligible for:

  • Registration fees to be paid by the Will County 9-1-1 System
  • PSAP salary reimbursement at a rate of $200 per eight (8) hour day or $25 per hour.
  • Reimbursement will be made annually upon receipt of telecommunicator(s) names, classes attended and proof of attendance. These are to be submitted to the 9-1-1 offices annually; the reimbursement term runs from November of one year through October of the following year.
  • PSAPs may choose to send their personnel to unrelated training offered by other vendors. That training will be chargeable to a telecommunicator’s continuing education hours; however, it will not be reimbursable.

Compliance

Each PSAP shall be required to provide training records to the 9-1-1 Administrative offices on an annual basis or upon request. Failure to comply with the standards as set forth will result in a letter of Non-Compliance sent to the Director of the PSAP setting forth:

  • Names of those telecommunicators not in compliance
  • Specifics as to the telecommunicator’s deficiency
  • Notice that the center has 90 days to regain compliance or supply written justification for non-compliance showing reasonable time line to comply.

Failure to bring any telecommunicator into compliance with the minimum standards, as set forth will result in a letter of Non-Compliance to that PSAP’s Operating Board. Non-compliance reviews will be made by the ETSB’s ad-Hoc Training Committee.