Lake-Sumter EMS operates a state-of-the-art E-911 Communication Center at our administrative complex in Mount Dora. From the center, all Lake-Sumter EMS units are dispatched as well as calls for the following thirteen (13) fire departments: Clermont, Eustis, Fruitland Park, Groveland, Lake County, Leesburg, Mascotte, Minneola, Montverde, Mount Dora, Tavares, The Villages, and Umatilla.
The growth in Lake and Sumter counties keeps the Communications Center staff very busy. Currently, Lake-Sumter EMS employs 39 dispatchers/call-takers who work around the clock to take non-emergency and emergency 911 calls. The team handles over 206,000 telephone calls annually. Included in that number, employees responded to a total of 48,757 EMS calls during FY 2007-2008 plus 39,772 calls for the fire services.
The skilled men and women who work in the center are often the first responders in an emergency situation and play a key role in meeting the EMS needs of citizens. There is no such thing as a “typical” day for dispatchers and call-takers. When dispatchers pick up the line, they never know what to expect — from vehicle crashes to structure fires to babies about to be born – it’s all in a day’s work at our Communications Center.
The one thing that the public can always expect is a professional, calm response from staff highly trained in Advanced Priority Dispatch. Dispatch staff are always ready to help people experiencing medical emergencies obtain the pre-hospital care they need, as quickly as possible. Priority Dispatch is a nationally recognized system that is used to allocate medical resources in the most appropriate, efficient, and timely manner.
The Communications Center also uses a new Computer Aided Dispatch System (CAD) which is incident based and focuses on delivering EMS and fire dispatch services using a map-centric interface.
In addition, over 50% of the Communication Center staff members are certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). This greatly assists them in identifying signs/symptoms given to them by the 911 caller.
Not content to rest on past accomplishments, the Communications Center received accreditation through the National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch in February 2009. This prestigious accreditation recognized us as a Center of Excellence as the 125th accredited dispatch center worldwide.