9-1-1

U.S. Department of Transportation printed on recycled paper

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

TRAFFIC TECH

Technology Transfer Series

Number 122 May 1996

EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH

NATIONAL STANDARD CURRICULUM READY

The first link to getting help in a medical emergency is protocols. NHTSA makes these programs available at

often a telephone call to the Emergency Medical low cost through the Government Printing Office.

Services (EMS) Dispatcher, 9-1-1 in many areas of

the country. The EMS dispatcher plays an important

role. The dispatcher mobilizes the emergency

response and needs to determine whether a call is a

minor medical emergency or one that requires

advanced life support resources. During the 1970’s, it

became apparent that protocols were needed to help

the dispatcher allocate the appropriate level of help

based on medically sound and clinically based

decisions. 

The dispatcher also needs to give verbal instructions

over the telephone to the victim or to a bystander

before the crews arrive, needs to gather information

about the safety of the scene for the patient,

bystanders, and the crews, and needs to relay this

information to the crew already on the way.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

(NHTSA) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau

have recently updated the Emergency Medical

Dispatch: National Standard Curriculum, first

developed in 1972. This training program applies

voluntary practice standards, developed by the

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

and the National Association of Emergency Medical

Services Physicians (NAEMSP). Emergency Services

providers use these uniform standards to develop or

select an emergency medical dispatch program that

includes proper training of emergency medical

dispatchers (EMDs) along with medically approved

The revised curriculum consists of Instructor and

Student Guides, and a new Manager’s Guide. The

course is designed to train already qualified

telecommunicators to perform emergency medical

dispatcher functions. Students do not have to be

qualified as either an emergency medical technician or

as a First Responder before completing EMD training. 

The course can train EMDs to use any protocols that

have been reviewed, adapted, and approved for local

use by a State or local EMD Medical Director,

including protocols that have been copyrighted. The

curriculum does not include a set of protocols, but

NHTSA has identified at least four sets of protocols

that are currently used and are available as "starter

kits" for EMD programs. 

The Dispatcher course can be presented in 24 hours. 

Students who participated in pilot testing of the

materials in Birmingham, Alabama, however, said

that they would like to have had a longer class time. 

NHTSA recommends that the course be given in a

minimum of 24 to 32 hours.

The Management Supplement to the Curriculum is

designed for a community just beginning to establish

an EMD system. It includes important topics

including medical direction; quality improvement;

public information, education and relations; and the

importance of networking and building support for

implementing the proposed EMD system. The

Management Supplement, while not a stand alone

guide, will point out some of the steps needed to

implement a new EMD program.

Twelve State EMS Directors and other interested
professionals reviewed drafts. The input from the

review group led to an updated curriculum that is

responsive to the needs of the broadest range of EMS The Instructor Guide, Participant Manual, and

systems and circumstances. Physicians on the review

panel focused on the roles and respon-sibilities of the

Dispatch Medical Director and on the contents of the

Emergency Medical Dispatch Protocol Reference

System (EMDPRS) for 32 chief complaint types.

This protocol reference system serves as the basis for

an EMD Medical Director to review and approve the

dispatch protocols that will be used in a dispatch

service and to train new EMDs for that service. 

HOW TO PURCHASE

Management Supplement of the Emergency Medical

Dispatch: National Standard Curriculum are

available for purchase from the Superintendent of

Documents, Government Printing Office, PO Box

371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. Telephone

orders may be placed at (202) 512-1800.

Government Printing Office Prices for

Emergency Medical Dispatch National Standard

Curriculum

Instructor Guide $30.00 ST# 050-003-00464-2

Trainee Guide 24.00

ST# 050-003-00466-9

Manager’s Guide 12.00

ST# 050-003-00465-1

MORE INFORMATION

For more information, contact Commander Garry B.

Criddle, Emergency Medical Services Division,

NHTSA, NTS-42, 400 Seventh Street, S.W.,

Washington, DC 20590, send a fax to 

(202) 366-7721, or E-MAIL: gcriddle@nhtsa.dot.gov

U.S. Department 

of Transportation

National Highway 

Traffic Safety 

Administration

400 Seventh Street, S.W. NTS-33

Washington, DC 20590

TRAFFIC TECH is a publication to disseminate 

information about traffic safety programs, 

including evaluations, innovative programs, 

and new publications. Feel free to copy it as you wish. 

If you would like to receive a copy contact:

Linda Cosgrove, Ph.D., Editor, Evaluation Staff

Traffic Safety Programs

(202) 366-2759, fax (202) 366-7096

E-MAIL: lcosgrove@nhtsa.dot.gov