Sno911 dispatch center earns Accredited Center of Excellence status

Snohomish County 911 (SNO911) has earned Accredited Center of Excellence status from the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. This recognition places SNO911 among a select group of emergency communications centers worldwide that meet the highest standards in emergency medical dispatch, the agency said in a news release.

International Academies of Emergency Dispatch is the global standard setting organization for emergency dispatch. Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) accreditation represents the highest distinction awarded to emergency communications centers. It confirms that a center operates at or above established industry standards through strong oversight, rigorous quality assurance, and a commitment to continuous improvement driven by data.

More than 3,500 emergency communications centers worldwide use the Academies’ dispatch systems. SNO911 is the 364th center to receive ACE recognition after meeting 20 rigorous standards focused on quality, consistency and performance.

This recognition reflects the work of SNO911’s team, including 120 certified emergency medical dispatchers and a dedicated quality assurance staff who help ensure the highest standard of care for the community, the agency said.

“Sno911’s ACE accreditation recognized what our community already depends on every day — highly trained dispatchers who deliver lifesaving care from the very first moment a 911 call is answered,” Dr. C. Ryan Keay, medical program director, Snohomish County EMS Agency, said in the news release.

“Their ability to rapidly assess emergencies, provide critical instructions, and coordinate the right response directly influences patient outcomes across Snohomish County. This accreditation affirms the extraordinary professionalism, clinical skill, and dedication of our dispatch team, and highlights the essential role they play as the first link in the chain of survival,” Keay added.

“Our emergency communications center handles roughly 1,500 to 2,000 calls every day, and about 10% of those calls involve EMS incidents,” said Kurt Mills, executive director of SNO911. “Those calls are often the most serious and time-critical situations we face. Our dispatchers meet those moments with professionalism, compassion, and remarkable skill. This recognition reflects the dedication our team brings to the people of Snohomish County and the difference they make for our community every single day.”

Using the medical priority dispatch system and the ProQA software platform, dispatchers quickly determine the appropriate response for each situation. This includes identifying the right resources, such as advanced life support or basic life support units, and determining whether responders should respond with lights and sirens or without them. In some cases, callers may also be connected directly to nurse triage services.

Accurate dispatch decisions improve patient care and enhance responder and community safety. Emergency vehicles responding with lights and sirens can weigh more than 20 tons and create significant risk when used unnecessarily. The system helps dispatchers identify the clinical need for those responses.

It also helps protect the EMS system itself, SNO911 said. Emergency medical resources are limited. Avoiding unnecessary deployments ensures that responders remain available for the next emergency.

Dispatchers also provide lifesaving care before responders arrive. Last year alone, SNO911 dispatchers guided callers through CPR more than 2,000 times. They also coached callers through bleeding control, childbirth and medication interventions such as administering epinephrine, naloxone or aspirin.

SNO911 also benefits from a governance model that brings together 911 leadership, fire and EMS partners, and physician medical direction. This collaboration allows the system to evaluate the full continuum of care, from the initial 911 call to the EMS response and hospital care, helping improve outcomes across the entire system, the news release said.