Q&A
B-HEARD team dispatch process and eligibility criteria
1:15:29
·
3 min
Council Member Lee inquires about the B-HEARD team dispatch process and the criteria used to determine if a call is eligible for B-HEARD response. FDNY Assistant Chief Cesar Escobar explains the dispatch process and eligibility criteria.
- Dispatchers use a computer triage application to determine if a call meets B-HEARD criteria
- Eligible calls must have no indication of violence, weapons, or suicidal tendencies
- B-HEARD eligible calls are classified as EDPM (Emotionally Disturbed Person Mental) and dispatched to available B-HEARD units
Linda Lee
1:15:29
Right.
1:15:30
And typically, how long does it take for a BEHA team to get dispatched once it's determined that there is one that needs to go out?
Cesar Escobar
1:15:41
Thank you for the question.
1:15:42
So typically, once a call comes in to 911 and it reaches our assignment receiving dispatchers, they go through a series of questions.
1:15:54
Sometimes that takes minutes.
1:15:56
To categorize this call appropriately.
1:15:58
Once the call is categorized where it meets the criteria for a be heard response, which would include having no indication of violence, having no indication of weapons, then that call would be transferred over to our dispatchers.
1:16:15
And the call would be transferred to whatever dispatcher is working in in the dispatch area that they're working with, that they're working in the Bronx or Upper Manhattan.
1:16:25
And then that dispatcher will assign that call to the appropriate resources if there's one available.
1:16:33
They they also will dispatch calls in priority order.
1:16:41
And sometimes there are calls that take a little longer to dispatch because the dispatchers are in the process of dispatching our life threatening emergencies.
1:16:51
So you know, we do have times where the be heard unit is dispatched in priority order, which means it'll be the next one to be dispatched after we dispatch the very critical assignments to which are things like cardiac arrest, choking, unconsciouses, things like that.
Linda Lee
1:17:10
Okay.
1:17:11
And you kinda started answering my question because I just wanted to if you could state for the record, like, what specific criteria is used to determine whether a call is be heard eligible?
Gale Brewer
1:17:22
Okay.
Cesar Escobar
1:17:25
So we used an application called computer triage application, which will lead the person on the phone to ask a series of questions.
1:17:38
So every time the algorithm will be dependent on the previous questions.
1:17:43
So the first initial questions are always things that relate to life threatening emergencies, For example, is the person in awake, is the person breathing.
1:17:53
So if the answer is yes to all those questions, then it leads them down the track of asking what, you know, what why did you call 911?
1:18:01
What is the mental health emergency?
1:18:03
And then a series of questions.
1:18:04
That will trigger a a be heard response, which will include no weapons, no violence, no suicidal tendencies, and then that call will get categorized as specific criteria for our be heard units.
1:18:17
We have a specific call type that is only for our be heard units, and it has to match that criteria for them to be dispatched.
Linda Lee
1:18:31
Okay.
1:18:32
And what is this specific call type designation?
Cesar Escobar
1:18:37
The calls that we dispatch be heard Unis 2 are classified as EDPM.
Erik D. Bottcher
1:18:44
EDPM.
1:18:45
Okay.
1:18:46
Perfect.
1:18:47
Thank you.
Alexandra Nyman
1:18:50
Also,
