Committee reviews side-by-side 911 data as Richmond Ambulance Authority seeks return of medical dispatch

The Public Safety Standing Committee reviewed a side-by-side comparison of call-answering and dispatch data from the Department of Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response (DECPR) and the Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA) as committee members pressed officials for clarity about a July 2024 operational change that shifted emergency medical dispatch (EMD) functions.

Tory May, DECPR deputy director of operations, said the chart provided to the committee was an attempt to create an "apples to apples" comparison over a six-month window and cautioned that the data "fluctuate[s] week in and week out." She described DECPR’s figures as the October–March snapshot and said meeting the 90% standard for calls answered in a target time is difficult but that DECPR’s staffing and the nature of high-impact incidents can cause daily variations: "The snapshot that was provided was a 6 month window...the percentages that…