North County Dispatch Invests in Telecommunicator Training Technology

North County Dispatch Invests in Telecommunicator Training Technology
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April 22, 2021

Resource: Blog, Success Stories Industry: Fire, Public Safety
Tags: Emergency Communications Center, Fire, Online Training, Vector LMS and Training Management

Online Training

Emergency Communications Centers (ECC) are a vital part of our public safety framework. Just as Emergency Telecommunicators have been widely recognized as the first, first responders in an emergency, the profession has significantly evolved to recognize and train professionals for the important role they serve since it originated in 1968, when the first 9-1-1 call was officially recorded (source). The profession involves significant training and a wide range of preparedness and skill sets across a myriad of situations, agency protocols, and technology. 

North County Dispatch JPA, commonly referred to as North Comm, provides fire and medical emergency dispatch services to most city fire departments in North San Diego County and private security dispatch to the Rancho Santa Fe Patrol. North Comm relies on Vector Solutions' Learning Management System (formerly TargetSolutions) to help manage their impressive training, certification (and recertification) and leader advancement program. With 20 full-time Telecommunicators and four Shift Supervisors with different training needs, North Comm can be confident in the data tracking and reporting Vector LMS provides.

Swapping Spreadsheets for an LMS to Uplevel Their Training Program

Prior to implementing the LMS, they used to track their training on Excel spreadsheets, but it was difficult to keep track of who needed what training. Telecommunicators often scrambled to fit in their training courses to meet their certification requirements. 

Bryan Buck is one of the four Shift Supervisors and is in charge of North Comm’s training program. Bryan continues to maximize the use of their LMS by building training and credentialing programs in the LMS to simplify the assignment, tracking and reporting for all of their certifications, state-mandated training, leadership programs and more.

Simplifying, Standardizing, and Streamlining Staff Training

Bryan has customized the LMS to meet North Comm’s needs, and has:

  • Set up automated IAED certification programs so that staff can monitor their required 24 hours of training needed to recertify every two years; they can access the IAED courses linked from the LMS and upload their certificates of completion for each course.
  • Created reports to show the training status of all personnel with an at-a-glance dashboard of who is overdue on their required training; each Shift Supervisor has a customized report to view their team’s respective members so they can follow up as needed.
  • Enabled supervisors to self-assign and track their training to get their required hours to advance to the next leadership level (with validation provided in the LMS settings).
  • Set up an on-boarding credential to simplify and standardize training for new hires with skill evaluations at every phase of their training program; automated training assignments (including the FEMA Incident Command System trainings, Radio operator training, etc) are set up and tracked and recorded in the LMS as relevant to each phase of the training program. Digital task books for applicable certifications are also tracked in the LMS.
  • Created credentials for multiple other programs, such as the California state-mandated sexual harassment training and the CPR-required training; everything is in one place to keep everyone on track and up-to-date.
  • Enabled a one-stop-shop to track all staff credentials, certifications, licenses, hours, courses, and resources.

All Resources in One Place

North Comm shares an LMS File Center repository with other agencies, including the North Zone Training Group, to easily access and share relevant resources. Staff can access training bulletins, CAD training resources, operational procedures, task books, and more in the LMS File Center.

Using Vector’s Library of Training Courses

North Comm has also taken advantage of the Vector courses offered through the LMS, including HR courses (“Drug-free Workplace” - “Preventing Discrimination in the Workplace” - “Ethics in the Workplace” - “Managing Stress at Work”), general office ergonomics courses,  business communication courses, and leadership courses. 

An Investment in Training Technology is an Investment in Professional Development

North Comm recognizes the importance of providing ongoing training to their employees and has invested in both their staff’s professional development and the LMS technology to ensure the training is delivered and tracked to help keep operations running smoothly.

To read more client testimonials, check out our Success Stories. 

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