About
REDCOM Dispatch in Santa Rosa, CA is a Joint Powers Authority established in 2002 under the California Joint Exercise of Powers Act to provide centralized emergency Fire and EMS dispatching to emergency response agencies within Sonoma County. REDCOM is operated on contract by American Medical Response.
Our Members
Redcom's Mission
REDCOM exists to assist the public, dispatch response agencies, and help the community during emergencies. REDCOM provides: high quality emergency medical and fire dispatch services; emergency pre-arrival instructions; advanced technology; financial stability; and a sound organizational structure. We will provide our callers, member agencies, general public and each other with unbiased, courteous, and professional treatment at all times.
Redcom's Vision
REDCOM will become industry leaders in Medical and Fire dispatch services by:
The MPDS is in part based on published standards by the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), and more than 30 years of research, development, and field testing throughout the world. The protocol contains 38 Chief Complaint Protocols, Case Entry and Exit information, call termination scripts, and additional verbatim instruction protocols for AED support, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), childbirth assistance, tracheostomy airway and breathing, and the Heimlich maneuver. Special protocols for stroke identification, aspirin administration, pandemic flu triage, and chemical suicide have also been released.
REDCOM adopted the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) Fire Priority Dispatch System (FPDS) in 2018.The FPDS combines the latest technology in systematic call interrogation with the ability to logically prioritize dispatch responses and give lifesaving pre-arrival instructions immediately to the caller at the scene, saving precious time while first responders arrive. The protocol has been designed to protect against liability while increasing call processing effectiveness and assuring measurable standards of equalized care to the public. In addition, your center will benefit from over 40 years of experience in the emergency dispatching field and will have the opportunity to learn from other centers experience as the protocol grows. Special protocols exist for escaping from burning buildings and sinking vehicles.
REDCOM provides Fire and EMS dispatch services to a vast array of public and private, volunteer and paid Fire and EMS agencies within Sonoma County. REDCOM currently provides call-taking, dispatch, and system status management services over 40 emergency response agencies in Sonoma County. Membership is open to all cities, independent districts, and other public agencies which have a primary service jurisdiction for fire protection and/or ambulance services in Sonoma County.
REDCOM is also a member of the Sonoma County Public Safety Consortium (SCPSC). The SCPSC is comprised of the majority of public safety entities within Sonoma County: REDCOM, representing over 40 Fire and EMS agencies, Santa Rosa PD, Cotati PD, Rohnert Park DPS, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, Petaluma PD, City of Sonoma, the Town of Windsor, and the Santa Rosa Junior College. All entities within the consortium share the same Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. The sharing of CAD information is an invaluable tool for the coordinated response to emergencies within Sonoma County. As a member of the SCPSC, REDCOM agencies are able to buy in to mobile data computers (MDC) and have access to county GIS mapping tools. These maps are routable and offer the most up-to-date and detailed hazard information available.
More than 90%% of all Fire or Ambulance calls in Sonoma County are medical emergencies. REDCOM is a proud user of the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) Emergency Medical Priority Dispatch System protocols. The MPDS is in part based on published standards by the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American Medical Association (AMA), and more than 20 years of research, development, and field testing throughout the world. These protocols are also researched and approved by local medical direction and the Coastal Valleys EMS Authority.
Our call-takers receive specialty initial and ongoing training to use these specialty protocols during emergencies. The EMD protocols enable our dispatchers to instruct bystanders to initiate life-saving care procedures to victims of a medical emergency before the arrival of first responders. Instructions are given to callers during these emergencies in a safe manner to improve the outcomes of patients who experience: Sudden Cardiac Arrest, Stroke, Imminent Child Birth, Bleeding or Hemorrhage, Traffic Accidents, Unconsciousness, Injuries, Seizures, Choking, and Chest Pain. Special instructions also exist for Aspirin Administration to cardiac patients, Pandemic Flu Triage, and Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) use. For serious emergencies, REDCOM call-takers stay on the line with callers and patients until responders arrive. This practice provides comfort and reassurance to the callers and provides the call-takers an opportunity to quickly identify changing circumstances during the emergency, and notify responders.
Early application of CPR and use of Automatic External Defibrillators have become well-known factors in survival rates of victims of cardiac arrest. EMD protocols enhance the survivability of cardiac arrest victims, and victims of other medical emergencies, by verifying when life-threatening conditions exist, and providing instructions, like CPR and AED use, to callers before responders arrive.
These practices have undoubtedly saved countless lives and improved the outcomes of thousands of citizens in Sonoma County experiencing a medical emergency!
REDCOM dispatches emergency resources for over 40 fire agencies in Sonoma County. REDCOM dispatchers are trained to dispatch resources in accordance with standard operating procedures designed and approved by the REDCOM Dispatch Operations Advisory Group (DOAG). The DOAG is comprised of stakeholders in fire and EMS operations. REDCOM Dispatchers evaluate each emergency for the appropriate event type which generates a unique response for each type of emergency and jurisdiction.
REDCOM is the designated Mass Casualty Incident Coordination Center for Sonoma County as designated in the Mass Casualty Incident Management Plan administered by Coastal Valleys Local Emergency Medical Services Authority. Under a declaration of a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) REDCOM notifies the hospital system and other partnering agencies within Sonoma County of the incident. REDCOM then coordinates the appropriate distribution of patients to care centers within the county. REDCOM achieves this through utilization of the Image Trend Resource Bridge network in Sonoma County. The Resource Bridge connects REDCOM with all area hospitals, CVEMS, and other agency providers of emergency medical care.
REDCOM’s dispatch services contract requires REDCOM to answer emergency calls within ten seconds 90% of the time. REDCOM consistently exceeds this requirement with a 96% compliance. Additionally, we exceed our requirement to dispatch emergency calls to the appropriate agency within 70 seconds 90% of the time or better.
REDCOM implements individual system plans for each agency it dispatches. For some agencies, REDCOM carries out a dynamic posting plan that allows the agencies to utilize their real-time available resources for maximum system coverage. Other agencies utilize a more static move-up plan to ensure district and station coverage. In either scenario, REDCOM carries out resource deployment that is specific to each agencies geographic and call volume needs.
REDCOM operates the latest version of the Intergraph I-Dispatcher v. 9.3.3. This CAD system is capable of custom response plans for optimized resource utilization and automatic and mutual aid responses. Additionally REDCOM can accommodate vehicles equipped with Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) to ensure the closest and most appropriate resource is dispatched to the scene.
The National Academies of Emergency Dispatch, through its College of Fellows, has established a high standard of excellence for emergency dispatch, providing the tools to achieve this high standard at both the dispatcher level through Certification, and at the communication center level through the Accreditation Program. As specified in the 2015 dispatch services agreement, REDCOM is required to seek status as an Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) through the IAED. ACE dispatch centers represent the top 5% of dispatch centers. In fact, there are only 235 dispatch centers world-wide, and only 16 dispatch centers in California that meet these high standards for dispatch. REDCOM was confirmed as an accredited center in March of 2015. The need to achieve ACE accreditation is also reflected in the REDCOM Strategic Plan.
In addition, REDCOM participates in the accreditation of the Sonoma County ambulance franchise operator, AMR. AMR's accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) was renewed in 2016 with no found deficiencies, a rare and prestigious recognition.
REDCOM is governed by a seven member Board of Directors who is responsible for the financial stability of the JPA and oversees the performance of the dispatch services contract. The REDCOM Dispatch Operations Advisory Group (DOAG) approves dispatch operating procedures and makes recommendations to the REDCOM Executive Director.
Additionally, as mentioned above, REDCOM is a member of the Sonoma County Public Safety Consortium (SCPSC) representing Fire and EMS dispatch among eight other Police Dispatch partners. Membership into the consortium allows REDCOM and its members to operate with the same CAD information as most of the police agencies in the county. Additionally, the SCPSC manages the CAD and maintenance contracts on behalf of REDCOM.
Being a REDCOM member includes your agency into the entire spectrum of emergency services in Sonoma County!
Each year, the REDCOM Executive Director develops and proposes a budget to the REDCOM Board of Directors. That budget, once approved, establishes the cost to run the REDCOM JPA for the upcoming fiscal year. Each REDCOM member pays an annual fee equal to their percentage (rolling five year average) of the total REDCOM call volume of all its members plus a base fee. Base fees are established based on eight call volume ranges. The base fee ensures coverage of a portion of overhead costs. Each agencies fees are calculated before April 1st of each year to allow ample time for each agency to include the costs in their upcoming budget.