The Billings City-County 9-1-1 Center has provided Priority Dispatch Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) to callers since 1998.  All 9-1-1 staff members are trained and certified in the Priority Dispatch EMD protocols which provide callers with information to sustain life until medical responders arrive on scene.  In order to meet the exacting standards of the Priority Dispatch program, 10% of all medical calls are reviewed by select staff members that have been specially trained and certified as EMD Quality Assurance specialists. 

Despite the high level of technology used in the 9-1-1 Center, the Priority Dispatch EMD program has been run from paper instruction cards which must be referred to by operators when receiving requests for medical assistance.  The Priority Dispatch ProQA software automates the EMD questioning process, which reduces the chance for operator error, and integrates the questioning and caller instructions into the computer aided dispatch report of the incident.  The availability of the electronic record also significantly reduces the time and labor involved in the quality assurance process.  Staff recommends that the City Council authorize purchasing this software from Priority Dispatch.

City Council may:

• Approve the purchase of the Priority Dispatch ProQA software or;
• Not approve the purchase of the Priority Dispatch Software.

The total price of licensing, implementation, installation, employee training and maintenance for the ProQA software is $79,900.  This project and the associated expense was submitted as an SBR and approved as part of the 2018 budget.

Staff recommends that Council approve the purchase of the Priority Dispatch ProQA software.