Northwest Central Dispatch System earns accreditation

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS - Northwest Central Dispatch System earned accreditation as an Emergency Fire Dispatch Center of Excellence and reaccreditation as an Emergency Medical Dispatch Center of Excellence from the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch.

Northwest Central Dispatch System has the distinguished honor of becoming the 31st Emergency Fire Dispatch Accredited Center in the world and the first in the state of Illinois. NWCDS was the first Emergency Medical Dispatch Center of Excellence in the state in 2010.

John Ferraro, NWCDS executive director, said the honor of becoming an accredited center is only possible because of the hard work, experience, and professionalism of the telecommunicators.

"They have to meet very specific call-handling standards in order to achieve these accreditations. Without their performance, none of this is possible. They deserve an enormous amount of credit," Ferraro said.

The IAED is a nonprofit, standard-setting organization promoting safe and effective emergency dispatch services worldwide. Comprised of allied Academies for medical, fire, and police, the IAED supports first-responder related research, unified protocol application, legislation for emergency call center regulation, and strengthening the emergency dispatch community through education, certification, and accreditation. An Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) is the highest distinction in 911 emergency communications services.

The multijurisdictional 911 center services Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Mount Prospect, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, and Streamwood.