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Dickinson County 911 director outlines staffing shortfalls and proposes new EMD and AI quality tools
Summary
Newly installed 911 administrative director Amber Piper told the Dickinson County Commission the dispatch center remains understaffed but has short-term staffing plans and recommended investing in electronic emergency medical dispatch tools and an AI-driven quality-assurance platform funded through 911 funds.
Amber Piper, Dickinson County administrative director for 911, told the County Commission that staffing has been the department’s primary issue since she arrived, but that recent hires and temporary PRN staff have reduced critically understaffed shifts.
Piper said the department currently has three full‑time dispatchers, two in training and five PRN (as‑needed) dispatchers; one additional full‑time dispatcher is due to start the following Monday. She said that in early September the department had reduced the number of single‑dispatcher shifts from a peak of 11–12 down to two full overnight shifts and a few partial single‑dispatcher periods.
Piper urged the commission to authorize two technology investments intended to standardize and speed call intake and improve quality assurance. First, she recommended replacing or augmenting the county’s ABCO EMD card‑set process with integrated, electronic emergency medical dispatch (EMD) questionnaires built into the county’s CAD (computer‑aided dispatch) system. Piper said a vendor option to digitize ABCO cards would cost about $22,000; she proposed instead building standardized EMD prompts in the county’s existing CAD so dispatchers enter structured answers directly into CAD while on calls, reducing transcription errors and improving information available to responders.
Second, Piper recommended an AI‑driven quality and training platform she described as a subscription service that monitors calls, flags high‑risk incidents and examples for coaching, auto‑generates summaries and micro‑learning modules, and can create simulations from real calls for training. She said vendor negotiations offer a $15,000 discount if finalized by October, yielding a first‑year cost of about $13,000, and noted that 9‑1‑1 funds — not the county’s general fund — can cover such services.
Piper said those tools would improve consistency across call‑takers, speed information to first responders, and permit near‑real‑time quality review and coaching for dispatchers. She also described operational changes: working with police, fire and EMS to allow officers to self‑dispatch status changes, collecting radio aliases so the center can identify who is speaking over the radio, and building monthly statistical reports for agencies and commissioners.
Commissioners expressed support for the technology direction and acknowledged budget concerns, but noted the proposals could be eligible for 9‑1‑1 fund spending and yield operations and training benefits.
Piper requested the commission’s implicit support to pursue the CAD questionnaire and the AI quality platform and said she would return with contract details and budget language if the board wanted to proceed.
