Building Your 9-1-1 Liability Shield

---

Liability is a major concern for all public safety communications centers. Our customers have asked for a dispatch and 9-1-1 specific class regarding liability and we have delivered! We have contacted every State's Attorney General and received information that is specific to your state laws and statutes to tailor each class. No other provider delivers a dispatch and regionally specific liability class! At PSTC we have chosen to educate students on liability rather than scare them as many classes do. We feel that by providing education and skills to our students, they will be better prepared to understand and avoid liability. We use a multi-layered approach to liability education.

Our class includes topics such as:

• Legal Terms: Liability, negligence, causation, vicarious liability and failure to train are terms we define and give examples for.
• How to limit liability exposure and increase community and responder safety
• Case Studies and Dispatchers in the News: We take a fair and honest look at telephone and radio calls that have helped land dispatchers into the liability hot seat. We show dispatchers how they can avoid complaints, reduce liability exposure and increase safety in the field through our "liability shield" techniques.
• Confidentiality Issues: This is a great reminder for trainers and supervisors. For the line employee, we discuss the release of confidential information such as medical history, criminal history, and officer safety. We reinforce the NCIC rules of confidentiality and introduce you to specific regional laws.
• 9-1-1 Lawsuits: A wide variety of 9-1-1 events will be used to illustrate liability. Some are indeed 9-1-1 horror stories, others are "everyday events" that took a bad turn and placed an agency or dispatcher in liabilities path. 


Through tape critiques, court cases and past incidents we will illustrate ideas to implement in your agency. A wide variety of call types are discussed. Tools they receive in this one-day class will improve their skills, knowledge, and performance.