Changes are coming soon to how 911 will respond to emergencies in Charles County.
The county’s emergency services department recently unveiled its intention to use a “hot and cold” dispatch system, which would mean that most calls that do not pose a risk to life would likely have an ambulance respond with its lights and sirens off.
“I think what we’ve seen, and what’s been studied in the past, is really the safety aspect for the first responders as well as the public,” Chief of 911/Public Safety Communications Jeff Clements said. “As the population is increasing, traffic around the area is increasing, so it creates more of a safety concern.”
Chief of EMS and Special Operations Lori Cherry said that with lights and sirens on, studies have shown that EMS only saves about 4.8 seconds to 3.5 minutes in transports.
Where is the line drawn for determining whether a hot dispatch, with lights and sirens on, is needed?
“Charles County uses the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch Medical Priority Dispatch System,” Clements said. “There’s different levels of the call, depending on how the caller answers all the questions we ask. We categorize the call into either an Echo, Delta, Charlie, Bravo or Alpha level of call. If it’s a Bravo, Delta, or Echo level call, that’s a hot lights and sirens response.”
The triage system is used internationally, with doctors around the world giving their input to it, Clements said.
Cherry said that Calvert County told her that they have implemented the hot and cold system, but it is so new that she cannot say if it’s necessarily a success yet. St. Mary’s does not currently use the hot and cold system, according to Cherry.
Referencing a 2022 study from the National EMS Management Association, Cherry emphasized the priority of safety by citing the number of injuries in ambulance crashes in 2009 throughout the country, which totaled 1,579.
Most of those crashes occurred with lights and sirens on.
The same study said from 1996 to 2012, there were 137 civilian fatalities and 228 civilian injuries resulting from fire service vehicle incidents, and 64 civilian fatalities and 217 civilian injuries resulting from ambulance incidents in the United States.
Some cold dispatches can involve taking patients to other medical facilities, like urgent cares, to free up space in hospitals, as they face overcrowding in times like flu season.
Right now, Charles County is evaluating the process of taking patients to alternative locations like urgent cares.
“We talked with Montgomery County, who did it, and they did not have a great experience with it,” Cherry said of systems that use hot and cold dispatching. “We’re just kind of looking at others who have to see if it would work for us down here.”
Cherry emphasized that nothing will change when 911 is called. Callers will receive the same response and the same questions.
“You’re trying to balance that line between the safety of everyone and urgency,” Clements said.
As of right now, the current timeframe for implementation of the system is July.
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