History - Certification

In addition to cleaning up the 9-1-1 legislation, one of NENA's early goals was to establish standards for training and dispatcher certification. A 1991 resolution stated, "the training of 9-1-1 telecommunication personnel is essential if the citizens of Alabama are to receive competent assistance in emergency situations." The resolution also said that statewide standards for communications personnel is necessary to ensure the safety of the citizens of Alabama and to protect the agencies against excessive liability. It explained the Alabama Chapter of NENA would take a lead role in the development of statewide standards in the training of 9-1-1 personnel and would coordinate with other organizations in the state that are working to adopt statewide training standards.

The proposed resolution written by a committee was accompanied by the committee's proposed standards for such a training course. The committee felt the course must be certified by a recognized authority, preferably a national organization that offers certification for those completing their course. The course should also be applicable to all public safety telecommunications fields, be of a comprehensive nature at least 40 hours in length.The committee felt it was important for the course to cover the history of communications, basic communications principles, communication techniques and procedures as well as specific telecommunication skills.The standards stated students should be able to demonstrate a knowledge of the course materials at the end of the course and be eligible to receive certification by the recognized authority.

"All training courses are to be presented by instructors who have received training for this particular course and who are certified to be an instructor," stated the proposal.In 1993 Alabama NENA began establishing a training library for use by its members. The guidelines stipulated the training materials could only be used by NENA members who could check them out for a two week period. NENA would charge a $20 fee for video tapes and books and $5 for audio tapes to cover postage, supplies and replacement materials. Members were required to sign an agreement establishing responsibility for the borrowed materials as well as compliance with the copyright laws.

"This program has the potential to save everyone a substantial amount of money as well as make more training available since your training budget will stretch further," stated Larry Amerson.The original library included ten video tapes, seven audio cassette tapes and a 9-1-1 emergency communications manual.After existing for one year, the organization's membership voted to eliminate the charge for checking out the materials, "while it is financially feasible to do so." NENA would also pay for the outgoing postage with the members only responsible for the cost of returning it.

In 1994 NENA President John Ellison drafted proposed legislation for minimum standards for telecommunicators. "We need to arrive at legislation we can support and then approach other groups such as APCO, police and fire chiefs, sheriffs, ems providers, league of municipalities, county commission association and others that will be impacted by these bills," stated Ellison.

The draft stated, "the legislature finds and declares it to be in the public interest to reduce the time required for a citizen to request and receive emergency aid, and to raise the level of competence of public safety and 9-1-1 telecommunicators by establishing a minimum standard of training and certification for personnel involved in the answering and dispatching of calls to law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services." The legislation called for the creation of a 12-member board of emergency telecommunications standards and training (BETST). The board would be responsible for determining the initial minimum standard of training and annual refresher training for telecommunicators. The act would have given current telecommunicators three years to be certified. Those employed after the cutoff date would be required to be certified within one year.
 
The draft legislation called for the program to be funded through a two-cent per month service charge to be added to everyone's phone bill. Although the proposal appeared to have wide support, members of AL-NENA voted to hold off on having the bill introduced until the 9-1-1 legislation was cleaned up to the satisfaction of the NENA membership.