Protocols for providing CPR instructions to 9-1-1 callers vary at dispatch centers across the state. Wisconsin Emergency Medical Services Association (WEMSA) is leading efforts to change that.
Thanks to a grant from the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment, WEMSA and the Medical College of Wisconsin are training dispatchers to become “expertly trained CPR coaches.”
When it comes to CPR, every minute counts. A 2015 project in Milwaukee County showed a dramatic increase in cardiac arrest victim survival rates after the implementation of a dispatcher-assisted CPR program.
Training sessions cover CPR and teach dispatchers how to manage a crisis situation on the other end of the phone line. The project hopes to train as many as 500 people by 2021.