In 2014, planning began to consolidate the primary and secondary PSAPs (Montgomery County Police and MCFRS). MCFRS had been using the MPDS for a long time but added the FPDS in 2015, the year after the consolidation process began. That same year, Montgomery County Police went from not using any of the Priority Dispatch System™ protocols to implementing PPDS.Īfter implementations and training took place, cross training began. Montgomery County Police calltakers started to learn MPDS and FPDS and had their sights on becoming certified EMDs and EFDs. Then MCFRS civilian employees learned the PPDS with their sights on becoming certified EPDs. The consolidation process took six years, culminating in 2020. It’s no surprise that the additional training and certification took some time because the Montgomery County Police 911 Emergency Communications Center has a staff of 185 employees of which 140 are Universal Call Takers and dispatchers. Things started to slowly change in 2009 when MCFRS launched a pilot program that involved hiring a small group of civilians (non-uniformed personnel). The pilot program didn’t continue for long. But more changes were on the horizon in the coming years including consolidation and implementing a new CAD system. center. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) handled everything related to fire and rescue with firefighters staffing the “Fire Rescue Corral” section of the center. But they were a secondary PSAP, so the fire and EMS calls they handled were initially answered by a Montgomery County Police calltaker before being transferred to a MCFRS calltaker sitting 20 feet away. Montgomery County Police calltakers answered all phone calls as the primary PSAP and handled all requests for police assistance. The Montgomery County Police 911 Emergency Communications Center has undergone some major changes in the past decade and hasn’t always functioned as it does now. Getting to know the Montgomery County Police 911 Emergency Communications Center
#Mcfrs.org quicklinks full
The area is full of history including the Clara Barton National Historic Site and performing arts venues including the Strathmore Music Center located in Bethesda, the BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown, and Glen Echo Park (a national park). You may have heard of this bustling county without even realizing it. The county is on the eastern border of Virginia with Baltimore northeast of the county and Annapolis directly east. It boasts gardens (Brookside Gardens), transportation museums (National Capital Trolley Museum and B&O Railroad Museum), great restaurants, and a nightlife scene. The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center calls Montgomery County home.
This county is the most populated county in the state, and four cities within the county were listed in the Top 10 most ethnically diverse areas of the country in 2018. In addition to the one million people who call Montgomery County home, a large number of commuters move through their county daily, adding to the calls their center fields. With the groundwork in place, they worked together to overcome their growing pains and a pandemic to join the elite club of tri-ACEs in June 2021 and be recognized at NAVIGATOR in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA), in July.īut it wasn’t a quick arrival to triple ACE status. Montgomery County had ACE in their sights as far back as 2015 when they added the Fire Priority Dispatch System ™ (FPDS ®) and the Police Priority Dispatch System ™ (PPDS ®) to their usage of the Medical Priority Dispatch System ™ (MPDS ®). Changes were afoot that kept accreditation in the background for four years.įirst, let’s get to know the makeup of Montgomery County. Situated northwest of Washington, D.C., Montgomery County, Maryland (USA), is 507 square miles and home to more than one million people.
Montgomery County Police 911 Emergency Communications Center didn’t let the challenges of 2020 stop them from going full steam ahead in seeking accreditation in all three disciplines.
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