Bill Text: HI SR72 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urging The Counties To Recognize 911 Emergency Services Dispatchers As First Responders In Their Respective Jurisdictions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-06-06 - Certified copies of resolutions sent, 06/06/22. [SR72 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SR72-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	72
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

URging the counties to recognize 911 emergency services dispatchers as FIRST RESPONDERS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE JURISDICTIONS.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers in the City and County of Honolulu, County of Hawaii, County of Kauai, and County of Maui are part of the critical infrastructure of the public safety system in each of the jurisdictions; and

 

     WHEREAS, these emergency services personnel play a critical role in emergency response, as these personnel are very often the first public safety employees to handle an emergency; are the first line of communication for persons needing law enforcement, fire, or medical response; and are a lifeline to law enforcement, fire, and medical responders in the field; and

 

     WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers are responsible for an array of duties and services, including operating advanced automated terminals, using multiple robust lifesaving procedures and technologies to obtain critical information from callers, analyzing the information provided to them, and, in some cases, utilizing specialized mapping systems to send the appropriate and closest available emergency unit and communicate the best course of action for the caller to take before the emergency unit arrives; and

 

     WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers deal with immensely stressful situations as their job responsibilities involve making split-second decisions that affect the safety and well-being of the public and field responders and delivering vital emergency pre-arrival instructions daily; and

 

     WHEREAS, information gathered and relayed by 911 emergency services dispatchers can mean the difference between life and death for callers and field responders; 911 emergency services dispatchers provide an integral basis for effective public safety response and often can prevent incidents from worsening before field responders arrive; and

 

     WHEREAS, with the emergence of Next Generation 911, 911 emergency services dispatchers may be subject to graphic photographs and audio and live video streaming of emergency situations; and

 

     WHEREAS, although 911 emergency services dispatchers are not physically at the scene of emergencies, they often suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as their job duties include answering multiple traumatic calls, banding successful radio incidents, and communicating with people in states of distress, fear, or injury; and

 

WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers receive specialized training and must be certified to work in 911 emergency telecommunications centers in their respective jurisdictions; and

 

WHEREAS, in 2020, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1945, which defines a first responder as an employee of the state or a local public agency who provides emergency response services, including a peace officer; a firefighter; a paramedic; an emergency medical technician; or a public safety dispatcher or public safety telecommunicator, which is defined as an individual employed by a public safety agency, as the initial first responder, whose primary responsibility is to receive, process, transmit, or dispatch emergency and nonemergency calls for law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, and other public safety services by telephone, radio, or other communication device, and includes an individual who promotes from this position and supervises individuals who perform these functions; and

 

WHEREAS, pursuant to Act 63, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, the Department of Human Resources Development submitted a report to the Legislature in which the counties found that the work performed by other dispatchers are not comparable to that of emergency services dispatcher positions; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the counties are urged to recognize emergency services dispatchers, who receive, dispatch, and respond to 911 calls, texts, and other requests, as first responders in their respective jurisdictions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the job classifications of 911 emergency services dispatchers be updated to include the duties of 911 emergency services dispatchers as first responders; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Mayors and Council Chairs of the City and County of Honolulu and Counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

911 Emergency Services Dispatchers; First Responders; Counties