Quest for Quality

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Quest for Quality

Ronald Bonneau, ENP

National Emergency Number Association

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“He that won’t be

counseled

can’t be helped.”

Benjamin Franklin

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Are You Psychic, Telepathic?

If the answer is no, then the only mechanism

that management has to be cognizant of the

quality, or lack thereof, within their workforce

is to regularly and routinely conduct quality

assurance reviews!

QA is the Third Piece of the Puzzle

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Objectives of a QA Program

Accountability

Determine areas of concern

Mentoring

Motivate improvements

Regular feedback helps retention

Document, Document, Document

“The more is less” principle doesn’t work!

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Position and Discipline Monitoring

Consistently administered and randomly selected

review of recordings – 360 Degree Approach of

End to End Process

Call Taking and Dispatching for Police Incidents

Call Taking and Dispatching for Fire Incidents

Call Taking and Dispatching for EMS Incidents

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Quality Assurance Categories

Call TakingInterview Questions - WWWWW

CAD Entry Skills

Telephone Protocol Skills

Supervisor’s Overview

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Quality Assurance Categories

DispatchingAssignment of Call – Prioritization, Type

Summarization

Information Flow

Radio Protocol Skills

Supervisor’s Overview

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Selection of Evaluators – Critical Component to Process

Supervisory personnel who are well versed in your agency’s

protocols as well as your policies and procedures and a willingness

to set a positive example.

Management staff who are dedicated to the betterment of your

agency and a desire to be truthful, honest, fair and ethical.

It is not advisable to have line level staff members evaluating their

peers.

Minimize Rating Bias

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Supervisors’ Responsibilities

Each supervisor is responsible for doing a minimum of two

quality assurance reviews per week for each staff member

assigned to their shift.

If this is followed, at the end of a 12 month period, a

minimum of 104 quality assurance reviews will become a

quantifiable basis for an objective and factual performance

evaluation.

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Senior Management’s Responsibilities – Evaluating the Evaluators!

Monthly calibration of all evaluators is paramount to success by

ensuring that the graders are on the “same page”.

Random checks of individual evaluator’s reviews for compliance

with agency’s mission statement.

Clarifying high and low range scores is important

Identifiable issues provided to CTOs for targeted training.

Senior management staff members perform additional reviews for

unusual or critical incidents, as well as all complaint based inquiries.

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“Evaluate what you want -

because what gets

measured,

gets produced!”James Belasco

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RECOMMENDED STANDARDFOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A

QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM FOR PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINTS

Version 5, June 2014

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COLLABORATIVE EFFORT

Denise Amber Lee Foundation

APCO

NENA

IAED

POWERPHONE

PSAP LEADERS

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QA Standards Working Group Eric Parry, ENP, Chair - NENA Education Advisory Board

 Carol Adams, RPL - Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia

 Ron Bonneau, ENP – Kent County Dispatch Authority, Grand Rapids, Michigan

 Angela Bowen - APCO International

 John Ferraro, ENP - West Suburban Consolidated Dispatch Center, River Forest, IL

 Rick Erickson, ENP - The Woodlands Fire Department / Montgomery County Fire Communications

 Brent Finster - Cayman Islands Government Department of Public Safety Communications

Jerry Turk - PowerPhone, Inc.

Mark Lee - Denise Amber Lee Foundation

 Steve Leese - APCO International

Crystal McDuffie, RPL, ENP - APCO International

 Sherrill Ornberg, ENP, RPL - Denise Amber Lee Foundation

 Carlynn Page - International Academies of Emergency Dispatch

Ty Wooten - NENA 

 Keith Simpkins - Department of Emergency Services, Chester County, PA

 Kevin Willett - PSTC - Public Safety Training Consultants

 Lindsay Yeager - Department of Emergency Services, Chester County, PA

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OVERVIEWStarting Point for Any Size PSAPNo-CostVoluntary – Not MandatoryEasy (and Not Easy) to ImplementComplete System for all Disciplines Self Scoring Spreadsheets (EMS, Fire, Law)Vendor/Product neutralDue for Publishing 4th Q 2014

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SECTIONS

Introduction

Scope

Purpose

Definitions

Agency Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities of the Quality Assurance Evaluator

(QAE)

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SECTIONS (cont’d)

Required Components of a QA/QI Program

Written Directives

Case Review Criteria

Mentoring

Monitoring

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SECTIONS (cont’d)

Review Process Requirements

Call Selection Criteria

Minimum of 2% Random

Define Exceptions – Mitigating Circumstance such as

loss of life, use of deadly force, exceptions are QA.

Timeliness - Recent

Review

Documentation

Reporting

1818

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SECTIONS (cont’d)

Review Process Requirements (cont’d)

Acknowledging Great Work

Recommendations for Improvement (QI)

Feed Back Criteria

Action Plans (as required)

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Supporting Addendums

Customizing the Case Evaluation Templates

Sample Case Evaluation Templates (Excel) will be on the

NENA website – Auto Calculate

Quality Assurance Sample Guidelines for EMS, Fire,

Police Events from End to End

QA Process Overview

QA Process Flow Chart – Pictorial of QA process

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Calltaker's name - XXXX CAD/RD Number - 201X-XXXXEvaluator's Name - QAE XXXX Date & Time of Call - 05/01/1X 23:45:15Nature of Call - Disturbance - Bar Fight Address of Call - 123 Main Street, Any town

Call Taking for Police Incident

Interview Questions Points Yes Refused No NAVerified address of occurrence? 200 200 Caller’s telephone number verified? 30 0 Asked about time of occurrence? 30 30 Asked about weapons? 80 80 Asked about alcohol and drug use? NAAsked if it is physical or verbal abuse? 20 20 Questioned about the need for an ambulance? 15 0 Questioned about direction of travel? NAQuestioned about number of subject(s)/offender(s) involved? 20 20 Questioned about description of subject(s)/offender(s)? 20 20 Questioned about offender's location? 25 0 Questioned about description of vehicle? NAAsked if the caller wants to see the officer? NAAsked other incident specific questions? 20 0 Caller’s name obtained? 10 0 Caller’s address obtained? 5 0

475 370 77.89%

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Questions?

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Ronald Bonneau, ENPNational Emergency Number Association

bonns3@comcast.net708-243-9495