Contact: Craig Whittington
Phone: 336-373-2506
Cell: 336-451-6730

         
Guilford Metro 9-1-1 Awarded Second International Accreditation for Excellence

GREENSBORO, NC (April 7, 2010) – Guilford Metro 9-1-1 (GM 9-1-1) was recently awarded international accreditation as an Emergency Medical Dispatch Center of Excellence from the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED), a standard-setting organization that promotes safe and effective emergency dispatch services world-wide. This is the second accreditation GM 9-1-1 has received from IAED in less than four months; the first was for achieving the Emergency Fire Dispatch Center of Excellence accreditation.

GM 9-1-1 is now the 134th emergency communications center / 9-1-1 center in the entire world to be awarded this distinction, and becomes only the fifteenth emergency communications center in the world to hold dual accreditation in Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) and Emergency Fire Dispatch (EFD).   

GM 9-1-1 received this accreditation due to its comprehensive implementation and compliance with the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS). MPDS is a comprehensive emergency medical dispatch system designed to provide responder and caller safety, maximize utilization of resources, prioritize responses, provide efficient delivery of pre-arrival instructions, and improve overall emergency medical customer service.

“Receiving dual accreditation in both EMD and EFD is an amazing accomplishment,” said GM 9-1-1 Executive Director Wesley Reid. “Our staff has worked very hard to make Guilford Metro 9-1-1 a premiere 9-1-1 communications center and our hard work is paying off.”

To receive this designation from IAED, GM 9-1-1 had to have proper 9-1-1 communications center management oversight and on-going quality improvement programs in place, and had to make sure its entire staff was in compliance with all MPDS practices.

GM 9-1-1 will be recognized as an Accredited Center of Excellence at the IAED conference later this month in Orlando, Fla.

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