Operations

E911 Addressing

Amending Street Names and Numbers

E911 Addressing is a part of the St. Charles County Department of Emergency Communications. Per County Ordinance 08-100, Emergency Communications is authorized to establish and amend street names and numbers within unincorporated St. Charles County. The department is also authorized to work with municipalities within St. Charles County to establish and amend street names and numbers within a specific municipality. Address amendments may be performed on occasion if the address has been duplicated, or is of such a nature that may potentially impact the effectiveness of emergency response.

Building in Unincorporated St. Charles County

If you are constructing a building within unincorporated St. Charles County, please consult Emergency Communications to ensure a proper address has been assigned. If an address has not been assigned, you will be directed to complete the address request form from either the Community Development Department or Emergency Communications. For assistance in completing the form, or for general questions concerning addressing issues, please contact us by phone at 636-949-7481.

Training

Extensive training of Emergency Dispatchers is required to efficiently process 911 calls. Each new hire completes an intensive seven-week, in-house classroom orientation that introduces the basics of the computer-aided dispatch system; call-taking techniques; emergency medical, fire and police dispatch procedures; and geography. Each trainee is taught the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) 40-hour Emergency Telecommunicator course as well as the APCO 32-hour Fire Telecommunicator course. Trainees also are certified in healthcare provider Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).

Communication Center Training

Upon completion of the classroom phase, trainees are assigned to a Communications Training Officer (CTO) for individual on-the-job training at the call taker position. After being signed off at the call-take position (approximately five weeks), the trainee returns to the classroom for another week of instruction and scenarios regarding the dispatch and operations radio positions. The trainee then returns to the Communications Center for on-the-job training at the radio positions (approximately 10 more weeks).

During the time in the Communication Center, the performance of the trainee is evaluated each shift on written daily observation reports, completed by the CTO. At the end of training on each position, the trainee is required (through observation, testing and scenarios) to demonstrate they can work that position independently. To expose trainees to a wide variety of situations, they may rotate through different shifts and work hours during their training. It requires 6–9 months to complete training at all three positions. Only after training is a trainee considered an effective Emergency Dispatcher, ready to fully serve the citizens of St. Charles County.

Continuing Training

The training certainly does not stop for our Emergency Dispatchers once they are "signed off." Each dispatcher must complete a minimum of 24 hours of continuing education each year to remain certified. St. Charles County Emergency Communications dispatchers well exceed that total, typically receiving at least 40 hours of ongoing training per year. That training includes information on technology improvements, review of protocols through simulation training and testing, geography and mapping modifications that may occur on our ever-changing county road system and any changes in standard operating procedures.

High Quality Service

Initial and ongoing training is a vital component of the job of Emergency Dispatcher, but it is only the tip of the iceberg! An equally vital component of the job is that of quality assurance. Emergency Communications believes ongoing review and feedback of calls for service is an important way to ensure each employee knows what is expected and performs their job as expected every day.

Through listening to random calls and grading performance, we can show our Emergency Dispatchers consistently perform at a very high level. Using standards set by the National Academy of Emergency Dispatch (NAED) and assisted by the AQUA computer system from Priority Dispatch, our Quality Assurance Officer listens to a percentage of the total calls received each week and grades the Emergency Dispatcher on his or her performance.