Palo Alto City Council
October 20, 2025

1 City of Palo Alto
Office of the City Auditor
Dispatch Center Assessment
August 15, 2025

Contents
Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and Baker Tilly US, LLP, trading as Baker Tilly, operate under an alternative practice structure and are members of the global network of Baker Tilly International Ltd., the members of which are separate and independent legal entities. Baker Tilly US, LLP is a licensed CPA firm that provides assurance services to its clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities provide tax and consulting services to their clients and are not licensed CPA firms.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 1 PURPOSE OF THE AUDIT ........................................................................................................ 1 CURRENT STATE OPERATIONAL OBSERVATIONS ............................................................. 1 FUTURE STATE OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................ 2 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 3 OBJECTIVE ................................................................................................................................ 3 BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................... 3 SCOPE AND PROCEDURES .................................................................................................... 3 ORGANIZATIONAL STRENGTHS ............................................................................................. 4 DETAILED ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................... 5 STAFFING .................................................................................................................................. 6 CALL PROCESSING ................................................................................................................ 15 EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH (EMD) CALLS .............................................................. 19 TRAINING ................................................................................................................................. 23 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................ 25 APPENDIX A: SURROUNDING ORGANIZATION/DISPATCH CENTER SURVEY RESPONSES (BASED ON 2023 ANNUAL DATA) ......................................................................................... 26 APPENDIX B: DISPATCH CENTER ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS ........................................ 29

1 Executive Summary
Purpose of the Assessment
Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP (Baker Tilly), in its capacity serving as the Office of the City Auditor (OCA) for the City of Palo Alto (the City), conducted a Dispatch Center Assessment based on approved Task Order 4.28 as part of the City’s FY24 Audit Plan. The objective of this assessment was to:

Gather general information about the dispatch center’s performance and evaluate its staffing, call processing, Emergency Medical Dispatching (EMD), and training.

Unlike a traditional audit report which issues findings and recommendations, this assessment provides information about the current state of operations and offers considerations for future state operations.

Current State Operational Observations
Staffing
 Palo Alto Dispatch Center budgeted staffing levels appear to be in line with industry standards and benchmarked agencies; however, the Center is currently understaffed.  Overall stakeholder feedback on Dispatch Center service provision was positive but there is room for improvement.

Call Processing
 Palo Alto appears to exceed NENA call answering standards but underperform on NFPA call processing standards.
o The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) standard for answering 9-1-1 calls is 90% of calls should be answered within 15 seconds. Palo Alto exceeded this standard, answering 99.53% of 9-1-1 calls within 10 seconds in 2024. o While not currently followed by Palo Alto’s Dispatch Center, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard for dispatching calls is 90% of calls should be dispatched within 90 seconds. In 2024, only 68% of Palo Alto’s calls were dispatched within the recommended 90 seconds.
 The Dispatch Center lacks a formal QA process for general call processing.

Emergency Medical Dispatch
 The Dispatch Center complies with many EMD standards but should consider formalizing processes to ensure adherence to standards and best practices.  OCA’s analysis of 50 calls (20 EMD, 20 NOEMD, and 10 N/A) found that:
o All EMD coded calls had the correct determinant assigned. o 3 out of 20 NOEMD calls or 6% of our total sample were not accurately coded and should have been coded as EMD.
o 9 out of 10 N/A calls or 18% of our total sample should have been assigned as NOEMD.
 There is No Formal Follow-up on Performance Reports and Dispatchers Do Not Need to Formally Acknowledge Receipt of Feedback.

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 The recently outsourced Quality Assurance vendor for EMD calls determined overall agency performance meets standards.

Training
 The Dispatch Center has a comprehensive training manual and formally evaluates EMD calls but does not have a formal process for evaluating other calls received.  All Dispatchers are in compliance with Continuing Professional Training requirements.

Future State Operational Considerations
Staffing
 The City might consider conducting a staffing utilization assessment to better understand how dispatcher time is spent and if there are opportunities to gain efficiencies. Such an assessment could also consider the possibility of outsourcing certain services such as 3-1-1, Utility, Public Works, and/or Fire/EMS calls.
 Overall stakeholder feedback on Dispatch Center service provision was positive but there is room for improvement. The following areas were noted for improvement:
• Provide more details in dispatcher notes and communication, • Assist in eliminating duplicate incidents during emergency events, and • Ensure incidents are not “closed” out in the dispatch system prior to Officer approval so records are complete and accurately reflect the nature of the incident.

Call Processing
 The City should consider whether a formal QA process should be implemented for general call processing to ensure dispatch staff receive ongoing coaching and feedback. Implementing such a program may not be feasible with current staffing levels or if staffing levels drop below a certain threshold.

Emergency Medical Dispatch
 The Dispatch Center should consider formalizing processes related to EMD Call processing standards.
 While EMD determinant accuracy appears to be improving, the City should consider how to best provide training and performance feedback to dispatchers to ensure they are providing accurate and actionable information to responders. In addition, the City should consider whether implementation of a more formal feedback mechanism and establishing individual and agency performance goals would help to improve overall performance. A more formal feedback mechanism could include requiring a dispatcher to acknowledge receipt and review of performance feedback, implementing a more formal follow-up procedure to ensure performance improves, and identifying additional training or steps if performance is not improving.

Training
 The City should consider developing and incorporating formal feedback procedures into the Communications Training Manual including processes for addressing performance deficiencies.

3 Introduction
Objective The purpose of this assessment was to:

Gather general information about the dispatch center’s performance and evaluate its staffing, call processing, Emergency Medical Dispatching (EMD), and training.

Background The City of Palo Alto (The City) operates a 24-hour dispatch center, or Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) housed within the Communications Division of the Palo Alto Police Department (PAPD). The City’s PSAP is led by the Technical Services Director and Communications Manager and includes a team of Public Safety Dispatcher Leads and Public Safety Dispatchers (Dispatchers).

The City’s PSAP receives and dispatches calls for various City departments, including Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Service (EMS), 24-hour non- emergency line, Utilities, Public Works, and Animal Control. In addition, the City’s PSAP serves as Stanford University’s (Stanford) call center providing Stanford’s police dispatching and fire services.

The City’s PSAP is also part of a tri-city consolidated system with the cities of Mountain View and Los Altos. This allows for calls unanswered for over 45 seconds to roll over to the participating cities.

When calls are made to the PSAP, dispatchers receive the call, make an initial determination of the "call type" based on the information provided by the caller, and then dispatches the appropriate department to respond as necessary.

While speaking to the caller, the dispatcher enters notes into the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. This occurs simultaneously to dispatching the call. Calls can be “closed out” by the dispatcher or responder, meaning the call is no longer active and is completed.

There are several agencies that provide performance and compliance standards relevant to dispatch/communication centers and quality assurance, including:
• The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) • National Emergency Number Association (NENA)
• Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) • International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED)
• National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Scope and
Procedures

The OCA obtained records from calendar years 2019 – 2024 and performed the following procedures:
• Interviewed the appropriate individuals from Palo Alto departments and other stakeholder agencies to gain an understanding of the organizational structure, processes, and controls related to the City’s PSAP efforts.
• Analyzed policies and procedures (P&P) as well as the legislative and regulatory requirements to identify the criteria to be used for evaluation of control design and effectiveness.

4 • Obtained data and analyzed staffing requirements, call processing, EMD, and training.
• Conducted an on-site observation of the City’s PSAP operations. • Selected a sample of dispatch center medical calls to screen for accurate coding determinant and tested against NENA EMD best practice procedures.
• Evaluated neighboring organizations/dispatch centers for benchmarking.
• Completed this assessment report based on the supporting evidence gathered.

Strengths During this audit activity, we noted the expertise and responsiveness demonstrated by the Police, Fire, Utilities, and Public Works Departments, notably the Police Chief, Fire Chief, Technical Services Director, and Public Safety Communications Manager. We greatly appreciate staff participating in interviews and providing a substantial amount of documentation for testing.

The OCA greatly appreciates the support of the departments involved in conducting this assessment.

Thank you!

5 DETAILED ANALYSIS
Detailed Analysis
The Dispatch Center serves as the City of Palo Alto’s Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), answering and responding to 9-1-1, emergency, and other urgent and informational calls for the City.

This assessment was requested by City management to understand the current state performance of the following Dispatch Center areas: staffing, call processing, EMD dispatch, and training, as well as, provide best practice and benchmarking information to assess this performance. As part of this assessment, the OCA was tasked with answering specific questions related to the areas above. An overview of these questions is provided in each relevant section of the report.

In addition to evaluating Palo Alto’s PSAP, this assessment surveyed several neighboring PSAPs to learn more about their operations for benchmarking purposes. In collaboration with Palo Alto’s Police and Fire Departments, the OCA selected six cities and counties for benchmarking and received responses from four agencies. Participating agencies include: the City of Alameda Police Department, the City of Mountain View Police and Fire Department Communications, the County of San Mateo Safety Communications, and the County of Santa Clara Communications Department.

Each PSAP surveyed is unique, providing different services and serving communities with particular demographics, however, the information is still helpful for understanding conditions and practices present at nearby agencies. Please see the table below for general background and context information provided by each participating agency.

Table 1: Benchmarking Agency Overview

City of
Palo Alto
City of
Alameda
City of
Mountain View
County of
San Mateo
County of
Santa Clara
Surveyed Agency Public Safety
Communications Police Department
Police and Fire
Department
Communications
Safety
Communications
Communications
Department
Population
Served for 9-1-1
Call Taking
84,772* 75,353 81,785 726,353 Sheriff: 200K
Fire: 225K
EMS: 1.8M
Approximate
Square Miles
Served
32 10 12 741 1,200
PSAP Dispatches
All Types of Calls Yes Police Only** Yes Yes Yes
Types of Calls
Received
 Fire
 Police
 EMS
 311/Info
 Utility
 Public Works
 Animal Control
 Rangers
 On-call Srvs. ^
 Fire
 Police
 EMS
 311/Info
 Utility
 Public Works
 Animal Control
 Fire
 Police
 EMS
 311/Info
 Utility
 Public Works
 Animal Control
 Rangers^^
Fire
Police
EMS
311/Info
Utility
Public Works
Animal Control
 On-call^ Srvs.
Fire
Police
EMS
311/Info
Utility
Public Works
Animal Control
County Parks
* Includes 16,200 residents from Stanford University
** Fire and medical calls are dispatched by Alameda County Regional Emergency Communications Center ^ On-call services include responding to requests from the District Attorney’s Office, Judges, Detectives and others ^^ Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space Rangers

6 DETAILED ANALYSIS
Staffing
Staffing is a critical component to ensure adequate performance at any PSAP. Not only do PSAPs have specific performance targets that can be impacted by staffing levels, such as answering calls within a specified timeframe, but PSAPs are expected to provide staff with adequate oversight and training to ensure that calls are processed effectively and efficiently. Finally, it is critical to City leaders and residents that PSAPs can operate effectively and efficiently during citywide emergency events.

These types of events are often unpredictable and require the PSAP to maintain a staffing level adequate to meet the demands of such an event.

The OCA evaluated several criteria related to staffing, including: how staffing is determined, how different components might impact staffing, and how Palo Alto’s PSAP staffing compares to other PSAPs surveyed. Specific questions related to the following areas:

• What are current and alternative methods for determining staffing levels? • How might changes to the staffing structure impact the Dispatch Center? • How is the Dispatch Center performing on key call answering metrics?

For the complete list of questions OCA was tasked with answering for this assessment, please see Appendix B.

Dispatch Center budgeted staffing levels appear to be in line with industry standards and benchmarked agencies; however, the Center is currently understaffed.

As part of this assessment, the OCA evaluated the Dispatch Center’s current methodology for determining the necessary number of staff. In addition, the OCA completed several staffing analyses based on industry best practices, as well as a benchmarking study to determine if Palo Alto Dispatch Center staffing levels aligned with these other points of comparison.

Palo Alto’s Current Staffing Methodology

Dispatch Center management stated that staffing levels for the Center were established over two decades ago1. At that time, the analysis determined a minimum of 20 FTEs for the Center including 16 dispatchers and 4 line-supervisors. During the COVID pandemic, staffing was reduced and the Dispatch Center had 16 budgeted FTEs which management said was not enough staff. As a result, staff had to work more overtime and there was less time for managerial staff to conduct training and performance reviews.

In 2021, the City entered into an agreement with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents dispatchers in Palo Alto. This agreement requires the City to staff the dispatch center with 4 dispatchers from the hours of 7AM to 10PM (0700-2200) Monday through Saturday and 3 dispatchers between the hours of 2AM to 7AM (0200-0700). To meet this staffing requirement, management determined a minimum of 20 dispatchers were needed and the Dispatch Center is once again budgeted for 20 FTEs. At the time of this report, the Dispatch Center has 17 filled FTEs.

However, management stated that, ideally, they would have a minimum of 25 staff members. This would allow supervisors to work on quality assurance and additional training rather than working as a dispatcher alongside team members as is the current practice.

1 Staff were unable to locate the analysis conducted at that time or specify what type of analysis was conducted.

7 DETAILED ANALYSIS

Table 2: Minimum Dispatch Center Staffing Levels Based on SEIU Agreement

Palo Alto’s Current Dispatch Staffing Configuration

According to the Communications Administrative Policies and Procedures document, there are six Emergency Dispatch Center (EDC) terminal positions. These positions are illustrated in the graphic below and include a position each for Utilities Local Government, Fire Radio, Police Radio, Police Back-up Radio, Supervisor’s Radio, and Leads Office CAD Position. However, as mentioned above, with current staffing levels there are typically no more than 4 dispatchers working at any given time and the Supervisor Radio and Leads Office CAD are not typically staffed. In order to ensure the Center meets minimum staffing requirements, dispatch positions are frequently filled through use of overtime.

Exhibit 1: Palo Alto Dispatch Terminal Positions – Typically Staffed with 4 Dispatchers

Radio channels and/or telephone lines can be handled at any one of the radio positions. However, unique, and specific responsibilities are required of dispatchers working the different radio positions.

The Local Government Radio Dispatcher is the first to answer incoming telephone lines, followed by the Fire Radio Dispatcher, and then the Police Back-up Dispatcher. The Police Radio Dispatcher may only answer an E911 line when no other dispatcher is available to answer the call. Everyone is cross trained to work as a call taker and a dispatcher during training.

The Fire Radio position is responsible for the following: monitor Fire Main Channels, Command 62, and Red Net Channels, dispatch fire incidents, keep status of the fire units, answer direct fire lines, share/handle call-taking responsibilities; and share/handle Local Government Radio responsibilities.

8 DETAILED ANALYSIS
Alternative Methods for Determining Staffing

There are various methods available to determine the number of positions needed to adequately staff a PSAP including guidance from national and state level organizations, as well as, individual efforts at the PSAP level, such as conducting an agency specific utilization study to determine how dispatcher time is spent.

National Standards

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) is the nation’s primary 9-1-1 association and provides industry guidance to PSAPs related to service delivery, data management, PSAP operations, and staffing. The NENA PSAP Staffing Guidelines Report as Commissioned by NENA SWAT Operations suggests that PSAPs consider call volume, call duration and queuing theory to determine the number of dispatchers needed to staff a given PSAP. These staffing calculations will be discussed in more detail below.

Staffing Utilization Assessments and Other Approaches

Palo Alto has not conducted a staffing utilization assessment to determine staffing in over two decades. As mentioned above, a previous study established a staffing level of 20 dispatch staff and the City is also required to maintain minimum staffing levels per its agreement with SEIU. In addition, Police Department management stated that the City’s PSAP must have adequate staffing to handle worst case scenarios and most critical incidents. In case of an emergency, every shift must be filled so there are adequate staff to handle the workload and ensure public safety.

Of the agencies surveyed, only two reported analyzing staffing utilization: City of Mountain View and Santa Clara County. However, there are various other methods being used to determine staffing levels. For example, the City of Alameda uses staffing forecast reports from Cal OES, 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Branch

2. These staffing reports which come from the Emergency Call Tracking System (ECaTS) will be discussed in relation to Palo Alto in more detail below. The County of San Mateo responded that they use the NENA staffing tool which walks agencies through a series of calculations to arrive at a minimum staffing number. This tool will also be discussed in more detail.

ECaTS Staffing Forecast Reports

The California 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Branch uses the Emergency Call Tracking System (ECaTS) to track and monitor 9-1-1 call data across the state. California 9-1-1 Emergency Communications provides 9-1-1 call data in ECaTS reports. The OCA analyzed the ECaTS Staffing Forecast to determine staffing requirements based on call volume, call duration time, and queueing theory. The ECaTS Staffing Forecast Module uses 12 months of available call data to calculate and recommend the optimum number of call takers required to answer all call types. The agent forecasts represent the recommended number of agents on the phones at any given time. This forecasts the needs of call takers only, not radio dispatchers. In addition, the calculations assume a service level goal of answering 95% of calls within 15 seconds and the mean average value of all answer times as calculated across the selected historical date range for a call time of 138 seconds.

Per OCA’s analysis of the 2023 & 2024 ECaTS Staffing Forecast reports, OCA calculated the average recommended call takers per hour. The average recommended call takers between the hours of 7AM and 2AM (0700-0200 hours) was approximately 2.84 and 2.67 agents for 2023 and 2024 respectively.

The average recommended call takers between the hours of 2AM and 7AM (0200-0700 hours) was approximately 2 for 2023 and 2024.

2 As Alameda City outsources their fire and medical dispatch to Alameda County, these forecasts only pertain to police dispatch.

9 DETAILED ANALYSIS
When factoring in an additional Main Police Radio position for dispatch, we concluded that these amounts fall in line with the PAPD Policy 216 minimum staffing mandate of 4 dispatchers between the hours of 7AM to 2AM (0700-0200 hours) and 3 dispatchers between the hours of 2AM and 7AM (0200-0700 hours).

Table 3: Manning Ratio Calculated Based on NENA Staffing Guidelines

*OCA analysis performed in December 2024

NENA Staffing Guidelines – Manning Ratio

Using the Manning Ratio calculation tool provided in the NENA Staffing Guidelines Report, the OCA determined a manning ratio of 4.9 for the City’s Dispatch Center, meaning that 4.9 people must be hired to keep one position manned 24 x 7. The manning ratio was calculated using inputs of 216 total days off per year (this includes an average of 3.5 days off per week as staff work three 12-hour shifts and alternate Saturdays, 12 paid holidays, 13 average paid vacation days, 1 Day of Reflection (floating holiday), and 8 sick days). Based on this guidance, in order to staff 4 positions, the Center would need a minimum of 20 staff (4.9 x 4 = 19.6).

The OCA also notes that per review of the SEIU Memorandum Agreement 3, the City's PSAP appears
to use the 2080 Plan or “12 hours per Shift Schedule.” Under this 2080 Plan, each employee's hours of work per year may not exceed 2,240. For scheduling purposes, the employee will be guaranteed not less than 2,080 hours per year, or no less than 52 weeks at the normal number of hours worked per week. Assuming an employee works between 2,080 and 2,240 hours/year, the Manning Ratio can be assumed to be between 3.9 and 4.2.

3 https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/human-resources/labor-relations/seiu/seiu_521_moa_23-24.pdf 4 https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.nena.org/resource/resmgr/standards/NENA-REF-001-2003_PSAP_Staff.pdf Staffing Factor Number of days
Days in a year 365
Less Days Off:

Weekends (i.e., 3.5 days per 52 weeks) 182
Paid Holidays Off 12
Vacation 13
Personal Days Off (Day of Reflection) 1
Sick 8
Total Days off per Year 216
Days available to work 149
Number of hours per day/shift 12
Hours available to work 1,788
Manning Ration* (Hours in Year/Hours Available) 4.90

10 DETAILED ANALYSIS
As mandated in the PAPD Policy Manual, Policy 216.3 Minimum Staffing Levels, minimum staffing requirements are 4 dispatchers between the hours of 0700-0200 and 3 dispatchers between the hours of 0200-0700. As this averages 3.79 dispatch positions per 24 hours, we can use a Manning Ratio of approximately 4 people to calculate a minimum staff size of 16 people (4 people hired per 1 staff member working = 4 x 4 (required minimum staffing) = 16). Additionally, we observed that Table 10 within the NENA Staffing Guidelines Report demonstrates the Staffing Recommendations for a Medium PSAP (population between 19,000 and 100,000). This recommends a total Operations Staff of 14, which includes 12 Call Takers / Dispatchers and 2 Supervisors. Total Support Staff is suggested at 2 positions which includes technical training, public education, and administrative staff for a total of 16 positions.

Nena Staffing Tool Limitations
It is important to note that the NENA Staffing Guidelines Report criteria for calculating the Manning Ratio do not include or account for other types of leave such as Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), California Family Rights Act (CFRA), or California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL). According to staff, Palo Alto also provides an additional 6 weeks of paid parental leave that is typically not provided by other neighboring cities. Finally, the Manning Ration does not consider employee turnover due to attrition or retirement and the long lead time often needed to train dispatch staff before they can work as fully certified employees. Given these considerations, to remain fully staffed at all times, a PSAP of Palo Alto’s size may need upwards of 20 FTEs.

Staffing Levels at Other Agencies

Of the PSAPs that responded to our survey, the City of Alameda and City of Mountain View appear to be most similar in size in terms of population. Each of these cities have less budgeted dispatch staff than Palo Alto. These cities’ target staffing levels are also less than what Palo Alto indicated.

However, it is important to note some key differences between Palo Alto and these other cities.

Palo Alto management estimated that during the day, the Palo Alto population can swell to 120,000 people or more due to the businesses it houses, the presence of Stanford University, and tourist attractions. Palo Alto also receives a significantly greater number of total calls than these two other cities. In 2023, Palo Alto had a total of approximately 145,000 calls while Alameda and Mountain View had 103,000 and 109,000 calls respectively, see Table 4: Staffing Levels Across Benchmarked Agencies, below.

In addition, the OCA noted that all agencies except Santa Clara County reported that they are not able to meet staffing targets either due to not having enough budgeted FTEs or not being able to fill budgeted positions.

11 DETAILED ANALYSIS

Table 4: Staffing Levels Across Benchmarked Agencies

City of
Palo Alto
City of
Alameda
City of
Mountain View
County of
San Mateo
County of
Santa Clara
Surveyed Agency Public Safety
Communications Police Department
Police and Fire
Department
Communications
Safety
Communications
Communications
Department
Population
Served for 9-1-1
Call Taking
84,772* 75,353 81,785 726,353
Sheriff: 200K
Fire: 225K
EMS: 1.8M
Staffing
Determination
Methods Used
• Previous study
• SEIU Agreement
• CAL OES
Staffing Forecast
• Consulting Firm
Study
• NENA Staffing
Tool
• Consulting Firm
Study (2021)
• Call volume &
radio frequency
requirements
based on
agreements with
partner agencies
Agency Analyzes
Staffing
Utilization
No No Yes** No Yes
Number of
Budgeted Staff 20 14 15 55 108
Average No. of
Dispatchers on
day shift
4 Not tracked 3 14 14
Able to Meet
Target Staffing
Levels
No No No No Yes
Number of
Desired Staff 25 16 16 46*** N/A
Total Calls
Received in 2023 145,533 102,887 109,218 506,497 434,794 Total Annual
Dispatch Call
Volume for
Police, Fire &
EMS
P: 38,143
F: 9,355
E: 6,010
Total: 53,508
P: 49,343
F: 0
E: 0
Total: 49,343
P: 19,498
F: 5,542
E: 3,153
Total: 28,193
P: 165,975
F: 79,051
E: 68,175
Total: 313,201
P: 141,355
F: 29,721
E: 154,123
Total: 325,199
* According to City staff, Palo Alto’s population swells to between 120,000 and 150,000 during the day due to university, hospital and business activity.
**Agency reported using a consulting firm to conduct a staffing utilization study. *** At 46 fully trained dispatchers, they will be able to fully staff their center without overtime and allow each employee to be off the radio for a minimum of one hour/day.
*OCA analysis performed in March 2025

Other Staffing Considerations

As part of this assessment, the OCA was tasked with evaluating how outsourcing dispatch services for Fire and EMS calls might impact staffing levels. The assessment considered the current number of Fire calls received and dispatched, service provision, dual agency calls (those requiring both a Fire and Police response), the perspectives of staff from Fire, Police, Dispatch and other benchmarked PSAPs, and assessment of staffing levels using various methods.

12 DETAILED ANALYSIS

Fire and EMS Dispatch

Based on OCA’s analysis of Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) data, in 2023 there were 9,537 Palo Alto Fire Department (PAFD) calls. Out of these, 9,355 PAFD calls were dispatched. As shown in the table below, Fire Department and EMS calls account for the third highest number of calls by agency in Palo Alto making up approximately 17% of all dispatched calls. Please see the table below for a comparison of total calls and dispatched calls by agency. Call processing times are discussed in the next section of the report.

Table 5: Palo Alto Calls Dispatched per Agency in 2023

Palo Alto Agency Total Calls Total Dispatched
Calls
Percent of
Dispatched Calls
Palo Alto Police Department (PAPD) 40,312 28,445 50.9%
Stanford University Department of Public
Safety (SDPS) 10,694 9,698 17.4%
Palo Alto Fire Department (PAFD) 9,537 9,355 16.7%
Pao Alto Utilities (PAUT) 4,935 4,518 8.1%
Palo Alto Public Works (PAPW) 696 323 0.6%
Palo Alto Animal Control (PAAC) 3,713 3,544 6.3%
Total 69,887 55,883 100.0%
*OCA analysis performed in December 2024
Per discussions with Dispatch Management, staff have multiple responsibilities and work together to address issues or cover positions if a dispatcher position leaves to go on break. Based on OCA’s on- site observation of the City’s PSAP Center operations, calls were consistently answered quickly as at least one position was available to answer calls at any given moment. If a dispatcher went on break, another dispatcher was able to cover for them. Breaks are typically brief and include a 30-minute lunch break and two 15-minute breaks allowed during each 12-hour shift. We observed that the Fire Radio Dispatcher did not exclusively answer fire dispatch calls and took over the Utilities position and answered all incoming telephone lines when this position took a break, confirming the fire dispatching position also serves as a call taker. According to Dispatch management, removing the fire dispatch position would not enable the Dispatch Center to eliminate a shift position as there are minimum staffing requirements for handling emergencies. There are several factors for the City to consider if it were to change the staffing or configuration of the Palo Alto Dispatch Center including overall service provision and “dual agency” calls.

As shown in Table 4: Staffing Levels Across Benchmarked Agencies (page. 10), there are several possible PSAP configurations used by cities and counties across the United States and California. For example, the City of Alameda PSAP only dispatches calls for the Police Department, and Fire and EMS calls are transferred to the Alameda County Regional Emergency Communications Center. In Palo Alto, dispatchers not only handle calls for Police, Fire and EMS, but also serve as call takers for the City’s Utility, Public Works, Animal Control, Rangers, and non-emergency calls. This assessment interviewed staff from Palo Alto’s PSAP, Fire, Utility, and Public Works departments, as well as staff from Santa Clara and Stanford.

13 DETAILED ANALYSIS
Overall stakeholder feedback on Dispatch Center service provision was positive but there is room for improvement.

Service Provision

The Dispatch Center provides call taking and dispatching services for several City departments, as well as Stanford University. Overall, stakeholder feedback was positive, especially with regard to the current Dispatch Center team. In particular, it was mentioned that the current team is courteous and professional and has a good understanding of issues specific to Palo Alto and the surrounding community including Stanford University and the City’s array of utility services. However, several areas for improvement were noted. According to stakeholders:
• Sometimes information provided by dispatch does not contain enough and/or detailed information as needed by the responding agency.
• It was noted that during a prior emergency event, one department received many duplicate calls from dispatch that they had to manually sort.
• It was reported that sometimes calls are closed out by dispatch before the responding police officer is ready for it to be closed, and this has led to records misrepresenting what occurred.

A primary concern of the Palo Alto Fire Department is whether Fire and EMS calls are dispatched as quickly as possible and if EMS calls are appropriately triaged and in compliance with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) EMD standards. EMD call processing will be discussed in the next section of this report.

Outsourcing Fire and EMS Dispatch
According to Dispatch Center management, transferring Fire and EMS calls to another PSAP for dispatch may not result in much time savings for Palo Alto. Management said that per NENA standards, it is best practice for the dispatcher to conduct a "warm" transfer, meaning that the dispatcher would need to stay on the line and still listen to the call after it’s been transferred. The dispatcher would stay on the call until the transferred agency ends the call on their side. Dispatch management and staff also expressed concerns that transferring the call could possibly create a delay of 20 seconds or more in dispatching responders. Finally, Palo Alto dispatch staff said that many calls they receive end up being “dual agency” calls. For dual agency calls, both police and fire response are necessary (for example: major auto accidents, assaults, etc.), in those instances, the dispatcher would need to remain on the call in order to provide ongoing updates and information to police officers. According to Fire management, traffic crash incidents are not currently processed using EMD by Palo Alto dispatchers. Management asserted that if County dispatch were to process these calls, they would perform EMD and EMS would receive needed pre-arrival information.

The OCA also interviewed staff from Santa Clara County Communications, a possible PSAP that could provide dispatch services for Palo Alto Fire and EMS calls. County Communications provides some dispatching services for all cities in the county except for Palo Alto. However, there is a mixture of services provided with some agencies dispatching only police, some dispatching police and fire, and still others that dispatch police, fire and EMS if they have an available ambulance. According to County Communications staff, they do not experience delays in dispatching responders. They stated that the primary PSAP should only confirm the location and nature of the emergency (if they need police, fire, or medical) before transferring calls to County Communications and there are not many questions that should be asked by the primary PSAP. According to County Communications, they have an Automatic Call Distribution system which allows calls to be automatically distributed. Palo Alto PD staff stated this is a function of the call processing equipment and a feature that Palo Alto has also implemented. Unless all lines are busy, calls are answered immediately. The county stated that they do not often experience waits or holds.

14 DETAILED ANALYSIS
County Communications stated that whether police also respond to the call is based on the policies and protocols for each agency's police or sheriff’s department. For many of the cities they provide EMS dispatch services for, the city is contractually obligated to remain on the call until it is dispatched.

If the city must hang up from the call, then County Communications often calls them back with the relevant information.

Dual Agency Calls

The OCA analyzed the number of dual agency calls received by Palo Alto to determine if transferring Fire and EMS calls to another PSAP would result in significant time savings and possibly reduce the need for dispatch staff in Palo Alto. If dispatchers need to stay on a dual agency call because it requires both a Fire/EMS and Police response, then transferring these calls may not result in much savings.

Per analysis of CAD data obtained from the City, there were 17,088 dual response or paired calls in 2023. Paired calls are any calls where two or more of the following agencies responded: PAPD, PAFD, Mountain View Fire Department, Los Altos Police Department, Mountain View Mid-Peninsula Rangers, and Mountain View Police Department. This makes up about 12% of all calls received by Palo Alto during 2023 (total calls received were 145,533 calls). Almost 6% of dual agency calls in 2023 involved the PAFD. See table below for our analysis of the number of dual response / paired calls from calendar years 2019 – 2024.

Table 6: Palo Alto Dual Agency Calls Per Year

*OCA analysis performed in December 2024

Table 5: Palo Alto calls Dispatched per Agency in 2023 (page 11), shows that approximately 17% of calls coming into the Dispatch Center are Fire related calls. However, with 12% of calls requiring both a Fire and Police response, it appears that eliminating Fire calls may not result in significant dispatcher time savings. With the agency staffed at peak times with 4 dispatchers, a rough calculation would be to estimate that each dispatcher is responsible for 25% of the total call volume entering the Center at any given time. It is beyond the scope of this assessment to make a determination as to how reducing staffing at the Dispatch Center may impact service provision, call processing times, use of overtime, and other various factors.

Year Number of Dual Agency Calls Dual Agency Calls Involving Palo Alto Fire Department
2019 16,181 7,963
2020 13,382 6,580
2021 13,862 6,842
2022 15,981 7,902
2023 17,088 8,425
2024
(1/1/2024 to 9/30/24)
13,332 6,574

15 DETAILED ANALYSIS
Future State Considerations
 The City might consider conducting a staffing utilization assessment to better understand how dispatcher time is spent and if there are opportunities to gain efficiencies. Such an assessment could also consider the possibility of outsourcing certain services such as 24-hour non- emergency, Utility, Public Works, and/or Fire/EMS calls.  Based on stakeholder feedback, the following areas were noted for improvement:
• Provide more details in dispatcher notes and communication, • Assist in eliminating duplicate incidents during emergency events, and • Ensure incidents are not “closed” out in the dispatch system prior to Officer approval so records are complete and accurately reflect the nature of the incident.

Call Processing
In addition to staffing levels, the OCA assessed the Dispatch Center’s call processing performance.

OCA was tasked with answering questions related to the following areas:
• What is the standard for call processing 9-1-1 calls? • What is the compliance on meeting the call processing standard? • Is there a Quality Assurance (QA) process and how often is the data reviewed?

PSAPs in California are required to meet performance standards established by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) with the goal of providing fast, reliable and cost-effective access to 9-1-1 emergency services. Many of these standards relate to how quickly and efficiently emergency calls are answered and dispatched to ensure public safety. The Dispatch Center follows the Cal OES standards coupled with NENA standards for call processing.

Palo Alto Appears to Exceed NENA Call Answering Standards but Underperform on NFPA Call Processing Standards

NENA Standards

The City’s PSAP follows the NENA Standards for 9-1-1 Call Processing4. The standards specify the amount of time in which a call should be answered. The Communications Manager also receives email notifications from NENA should a new law or regulation be added to the current standards.

Other standards, which are not currently followed by Palo Alto’s Dispatch Center look at call processing times – how long it takes to process the call and dispatch it to the appropriate agency.

These National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) standards are discussed in the next section.

NENA Standards for 911 Call Processing:
• Ninety percent (90%) of all 9-1-1 calls arriving at the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) shall be answered in less than or equal to 15 seconds.
• Ninety-five (95%) of all 9-1-1 calls should be answered in 20 seconds or less.

Based on OCA’s analysis of ECaTs PAPD Last 12-Months Ring Time Report for 9/01/23 through 8/31/2024, the City’s PSAP is meeting these call answering requirements.

4 The Communications Manager also receives email notifications from NENA should a new law or regulation be added to the current standards.

16 DETAILED ANALYSIS
For the 12-month period, the OCA reviewed a total of 113,355 calls:
• 99.53% of calls were answered within 10 seconds.
• 99.87% of calls were answered within 15 seconds.
• 99.94% of calls were answered within 20 seconds.

NFPA Standards
As noted above, NFPA standards are not currently followed by the City’s dispatch center or included in their performance goals or targets. However, these are standards that are measured and tracked by Palo Alto’s Fire Department. According to NFPA standard, 4.1.2.3.3.1, 90% of calls received by the PSAP should be processed or dispatched within 90 seconds and 99% should be dispatched within 120 seconds.

Table 7: NFPA Standard 4.1.2.3.3.15

OCA did not originally include these standards in our survey of other PSAPs. However, based on a review of the Alameda Regional Emergency Communications Center website, the Center reports that fire responses are dispatched within 64 seconds. The City of Mountain View stated they track the first standard – the percent of calls dispatched within 90 seconds – and achieved 90% for the period from January through March 2025 and 89% for the period of April through June 2025.

OCA also reviewed a November 2022 NFPA Research Foundation report, An Analysis of Public Safety Call Answering and Event Processing Times to determine PSAP compliance with these standards. The study reported that based on their analysis of available data, PSAPs are generally unable to process calls within the time prescribed by NFPA 1225 and that participating PSAPs in the study were only able to achieve the minimum time standards established by NFPA 40% to 50% of the time. The study authors also noted that PSAPs who have a written standard related to NFPA 1225 were compliant significantly more than PSAPs who have not incorporated this standard into their performance targets

6. Palo Alto will need to determine if this is a standard it wants to adopt.

OCA analyzed CAD incident response data for Fire and EMS calls provided by PAPD for 2023 and 2024 and found the City is not meeting this standard. In 2023, only 73% of calls were dispatched within 90 seconds of the call receipt and 68% in 2024. Our analysis also shows that only 88% of calls and 83% of calls respectively for 2023 and 2024 were dispatched within 120 seconds instead of the standard 99%. The graphs below show the breakdown of call dispatching for Fire and EMS calls by number of incidents in 15 second increments.

5 2020 NFPA-1770, Chapter 4, Standard 4.1.2.3.3.1, provided by PAFD 6 An Analysis of Public Safety Call Answering and Event Processing Times, Final Report by: Tim Nowak, Jason Fuller & Ken Riddle, Public Consulting Group, Boston, MA, November 2022, NFPA Research Foundation

17 DETAILED ANALYSIS
Tables 8 & 9: Number of Seconds from PSAP Receipt to Dispatch by Number of Incidents for 2023 and 2024

2023 Data

2024 Data

18 DETAILED ANALYSIS
The Dispatch Center Lacks a Formal QA Process for General Call Processing

The Dispatch Center receives several different types of calls including 9-1-1, Fire, Utility, Public Works and 24-hour non-emergency calls. The Dispatch Center also receives Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) calls which require the dispatcher to follow a prescribed set of questions. Dispatch management stated that the position responsible for overseeing quality assurance in EMD calls was eliminated during the COVID pandemic. This position has since been reinstated and the Dispatch Center began reviewing EMD calls for QA and performance in April 2024. These types of calls are discussed in more detail in the following section.

Quality Assurance (QA)
Management stated they do not currently have a formal QA process implemented for general call processing. In the past, this function has been performed by Lead Dispatchers who sit alongside other dispatchers. Leads could listen in on calls and provide real-time coaching and feedback. Staff stated that with current staffing levels, they do not have the ability to review all of the different types of calls they receive and evaluate how those calls are answered by dispatchers.

The OCA’s survey of other agencies found various approaches to monitoring dispatcher performance in relation to call processing.

Table 8: “Do you track overall and individual dispatcher performance?”

Future State Considerations
 The City should consider whether a formal QA process should be implemented for general call processing to ensure dispatch staff receive ongoing coaching and feedback. Implementing such a program may not be feasible with current staffing levels or if staffing levels drop below a certain threshold.

City of
Palo Alto
City of
Alameda
City of
Mountain View
County of
San Mateo
County of Santa
Clara
Overall Dispatch
Performance
• PAPD tracks and
reviews call
answering times
• PAFD tracks and
reports call
processing times
• SPIDR Tech
Surveys
• Fire Department
tracks
performance
metrics related to
call processing
times
• Regular QA
reviews completed
by supervisors
using Eventide
Software.
• In the process of
implementing
CommsCoach AQ
Software
•ECaTS reports
• Track and review call
answer times
• Overall performance
is also tracked by shift
Individual
Dispatch
Performance
• Calls are
reviewed quarterly
by the EMD-Q and
Communications
manager and
incident
performance
reports are
completed for
dispatchers
• Third-party
vendor began
reviewing EMD
calls for QA in Fall
2024
• Conduct
manual
performance
assessments to
evaluate call-
taking, police
radio, and
fire/medical call
handling
• QA process for
EMD
• Supervisors
enforce dispatch
procedures and
policies in the
Emergency
Communications
Center

See above.

• Call processing is
tracked and reviewed
through the quality
improvement program
in Law, Fire, and
Medial dispatching.
• Calls are reviewed on
a focused and random
basis then reviewed by
management using the
AQUA platform
provided by Priority
Dispatch

19 DETAILED ANALYSIS
Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Calls
EMD is a structured protocol for answering medical calls received by emergency dispatch centers.

Trained EMD dispatchers follow a series of approved questions to quickly determine the nature and priority of a call, dispatch the appropriate response and provide pre-arrival instructions to the caller to help the patient until Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrives on location.

All Palo Alto dispatchers are trained and certified in EMD protocols. The City’s PSAP follows the National Emergency Number Association (NENA)/Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) or NENA/APCO Best Practices Model for Third Party Emergency Medical Dispatch Services and PSAPs and the EMDQ Performance Standards listed in the 2018 International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) Guidance.

OCA was tasked with answering questions related to the following areas related to EMD:
• What is the EMD standard for 9-1-1 emergency medical calls? • How accurately are dispatchers making a determination in EMD calls? • What is the process for EMD compliance, accuracy, and review? The Dispatch Center Complies with Many EMD Standards but Should Formalize Processes
According to the APCO/NENA, a third-party entity which provides EMD services to a client base or population should comply with the minimum best practices listed below. Based on our interviews with staff and in-person observations, Palo Alto complies with many of these standards, but some practices have not been formalized.
• Intentions to provide EMD services to a client base or population they serve.  All Palo Alto dispatchers are trained and certified in EMD call processing. • A licensed physician with the appropriate qualifications should serve as Medical Director for the program.
 Per the Communications Manager this requirement is fulfilled by the EMS coordinator and the City is also overseen by the County’s medical doctor. • A logging recorder capable of recording all audio and/or multimedia related to the EMD process should be utilized. All recordings should be retained for at least ninety days. A written policy for retaining records as needed beyond ninety days should be adopted.  The City currently uses Hexagon for their Computer Aided Dispatch system and Sunridge for their records retention management. The City will be transitioning to Sunridge for CAD next year. Data is retained for 4 years, and radio and phone recordings are retained for 2 years. The City does not have a formal record retention policy related to dispatching data.
• A telephone and/or communication system capable of conferencing multiple parties on the same call with minimal delays should be utilized.
 The OCA observed this capability in person.
• The provider should utilize an EMD program that meets the established EMD practice Standards (outlined in the NHTSA Standard Practice for Emergency Medical Dispatch Management document) for initiating an EMD training program that incorporates core components of an EMD service. This includes certification, recertification, Continuing Dispatch Education (CDE), training, materials, and quality assurance processes.

20 DETAILED ANALYSIS
• The City has adopted NENA/APCO standards and contracts with a third party to review a sample of calls each month for compliance. An internally developed EMD program must meet or exceed Federal DOT and NHTSA Guidelines. An externally developed EMD program that lacks appropriate medical oversight and does not comply with these guidelines is discouraged.  These guidelines include instruction on training, medically approved protocols, quality assurance, performance management and collaboration. As mentioned above, Palo Alto recently contracted with a third-party vendor to review EMD calls for compliance and performance. In addition, the dispatch center reestablished its own review of calls In April 2024.
• EMD Service Providers should implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). • The City has not established a set of SOPs but rather references the NENA/IAED standards.
• The Third-Party Call Center should ensure that employees receiving calls be certified to provide EMD.
• All Palo Alto dispatchers are trained and certified in EMD.

Accuracy of EMD Coded Calls Needs Improvement

The City’s PSAP follows the NENA EMD Best Practices and IAED Performance Standards for compliance to evaluate dispatcher performance. Compliance reviews and performance are measured against the following seven categories:
• Case Entry – this serves as the starting point and the dispatcher is evaluated on how well they gathered information that will help identify the caller’s primary issue or “chief complaint.” • Chief Complaint Selection – the dispatcher is evaluated on the correct selection of the caller’s chief complaint and any additional complaints.
• Key Questions – the dispatcher is evaluated on asking the necessary questions to send appropriate determinant code and response and alert first responders to any safety issues on scene and prepare responders to address the situation.
• Dispatch Life Support (DLS) Instructions – these instructions include Post Dispatch Instructions and Pre-Arrival Instructions and are critical to ensuring the safety of the caller, victim/patient, and responder.
• Diagnostic and Instruction Tools – these instructions are used by the dispatcher to identify and document symptoms, hazards, descriptions, or to collect data. • Final Coding – the dispatcher is evaluated on whether they coded the call with the correct determinant code based on the key questions that were asked instead of the key questions that should have been asked.
• Customer Service – the dispatcher is evaluated on the level of compliance with the standards in providing service to the caller.

As mentioned above, a primary concern of the PAFD is whether Fire and EMS calls are dispatched as quickly as possible and if EMS calls are appropriately triaged and in compliance with EMD standards.

According to PAPD management, PAFD requested that when EMS calls are received, the dispatcher collects the initial information, dispatches the call and then completes EMD while FD is enroute.

However, EMD standards instruct the dispatcher to complete the EMD protocol prior to dispatch.

21 DETAILED ANALYSIS
According to the IAED, a dispatch or communication center must have a compliance score of over 90 to 95% in seven areas of interrogation, pre-arrival instructing, and response coding in order to achieve accreditation7. Obtaining accreditation requires fees, time and resources and may not be in alignment with Palo Alto’s current goals, but it does provide a point of reference to evaluate EMD compliance.

When a dispatcher receives a call necessitating EMD, the dispatcher makes a determination about the nature of the call, assigning an EMD determinant code. These codes help to guide the dispatchers in communicating the appropriate level of response to EMS responders and the resources needed.

There is No Formal Follow-up on Performance Reports and Dispatchers Do Not Need to Formally Acknowledge Receipt of Feedback
In the past, the City’s Dispatch Center management informally monitored dispatcher performance and provided feedback in the moment or if applicable to all dispatchers, provided overall training and performance improvement points for the group. For example, providing instruction to the dispatch team on following EMD protocols. In April 2024, the City’s PSAP implemented a more formal EMD Quality Assurance process in conjunction with reinstating the EMD-Q coordinator position. The EMD- Q coordinator ensures compliance by selecting and reviewing calls quarterly and creating Incident Performance reports to provide feedback to dispatchers one-on-one. This process is overseen by the EMD-Q coordinator. When a call is reviewed, a report is filled out and provided to the dispatcher. This feedback report is not meant to be punitive but informative. According to the EMD-Q coordinator, there is no formal follow up on these reports and the dispatcher is not required to confirm receipt of the information. However, the EMD-Q coordinator and Communications Manager work to provide support and training to dispatchers based on this feedback. If there is no marked performance improvement, in theory, the dispatcher may be placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) but the coordinator stated this has never been needed.

The OCA tested 50 Medical Emergency calls from January 1, 2023, through 9/30/2024 which included EMD, NOEMD, and N/A determinants. EMD coded calls include determinants which communicate the nature, severity and urgency of the response needed – invaluable information for the responder to ensure they provide the appropriate care as quickly as possible. Identifying the appropriate EMD determinant code to apply is based on the dispatcher following the EMD protocol series of questions.

A NOEMD determinant is assigned when the
dispatcher is unable to follow the EMD protocol. For
example, NOEMD might be assigned if there is a language barrier and the appropriate translation services cannot be obtained8, the scene is unsafe and it is too dangerous to walk through EMD questions, the caller is a passerby and does not want to perform EMD, or the caller is not in the same location as the patient (however, standards state that EMD services should be offered whether the caller is with the patient or not). Based on the distribution of EMD, NOEMD, and N/A sub types, OCA judgmentally determined a sample size of 20 EMD, 20 NOEMD, and 10 N/A calls to assess.

OCA listened to call recordings to verify that the dispatcher coded the call to the correct processing EMD / NOEMD / N/A determinant based on the nature of the information provided during the call.  Of the 20 EMD calls reviewed, we determined that the EMD determinant was accurately assigned.
 Of the 20 NOEMD calls reviewed, we determined the following:
• 3 calls were determined to have an inaccurate determinant. They were recorded as NOEMD in the system, but EMD could have been offered as the caller appeared to be with the patient in need of medical attention. PAPD stated that for these three calls NOEMD is

7 https://cdn.emergencydispatch.org/iaed/pdf/resource-library/AcademyAnswersBrochure-secured.pdf 8 The State of California provides translation services to assist PSAPs in foreign language translation.

22 DETAILED ANALYSIS
the correct code with one caller not in proximity to the patient, one caller refused to provide information, and one caller was unable to hear the dispatcher. After revisiting our analysis, OCA stands by our original assessment of these calls.
 Of the 10 N/A calls reviewed, we determined the following:
• 7 calls were marked as N/A in the CAD system, but they could have been assigned a NOEMD determinant if the dispatcher provided a reason for not performing EMD. This was a documentation error that did not impact patient care. • 2 calls were determined to have an inaccurate determinant. They were recorded as N/A in the system, but EMD could have been offered as the caller appeared to be with the patient in need of medical attention. PAPD stated that both of these calls should have been coded as NOEMD. One call with a determinant of “Too busy” and the other “Proximity”.

We noted that for the 3 calls (6%) that were determined to have an inaccurately assigned determinant, it appeared that EMD was partially or fully completed but was not accurately coded in the system.

Overall, it appears that accuracy for EMD determinants is improving as less calls were given an N/A determinant in 2024 (11%) compared to 2023 (23%). PAPD stated that this improvement is due to updated training and procedures, and they have begun reviewing all N/A calls providing monthly feedback to dispatchers as needed.

EMD Compliance is Monitored by a Third-Party Vendor and the PSAP’s Overall Performance Score Meets Standards

Due to staffing levels and management bandwidth, the Dispatch Center began outsourcing the EMD review function to a third-party vendor In August 2024. The new vendor contract specifies that 25 calls will be reviewed per week, 1,300 calls per year. Based on our analysis, there were approximately 6,082 Medical calls in 2023. Sampled calls represent an approximate testing rate of slightly more than 21% which is considerably more than suggested by best practices The APCO International Standard
for the Establishment of a Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement Program for Public Safety Answering Points1 recommends testing 2% of calls as long as this amount is not overly burdensome.

The vendor began reviewing EMD calls at the end of September 2024 and reviews recordings of EMD calls to determine dispatcher performance on various metrics including how well the dispatcher identifies the “chief complaint”, asks key questions, codes the call, dispatches life support, and provides customer service. Based on the IAED standards, the vendor’s performance rubric provides a score for each dispatcher as well as the overall agency and feedback is given to both individual staff and the agency as a whole. According to the vendor, each dispatcher and the overall agency should score above a 7.5 and, ideally, should shoot for a score of 9 or above. According to the vendor’s Agency Performance Threshold report dated 9/30/24 through 12/31/24, the agency’s cumulative performance score was 8.31. Palo Alto’s score dipped from 1/1/25 through 5/31/25 to 7.92 but for the month of June 2025 was up to 8.55.

According to the vendor, PSAPs seeking to achieve the IAED accreditation compliance standard for EMD calls of 90%, would need to achieve a score of 9 or above. However, the vendor noted that very few PSAPs achieve IAED Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) status. Based on a review of IAED’s website, there are 15 ACE accredited agencies in California out of approximately 400 agencies. Santa

23 DETAILED ANALYSIS
Clara County Communications is an ACE accredited agency.9 The vendor reported that overall, Palo Alto dispatchers continue to improve, and staff appear committed to improving performance.

OCA noted that the vendor is only reviewing calls that have been coded as EMD calls which means that calls coded as NO EMD or N/A are not being reviewed by a third-party. However, PAPD management stated that they now review all N/A calls on a monthly basis to ensure that calls are being coded when possible. Management said they have seen a reduction in the calls being coded N/A which was supported by OCA’s analysis in the previous section of this report. However, it is important to note that NO EMD calls are not being formally reviewed, and this is an area of ongoing concern.

OCA also noted that while PAPD incorporates various standards as guidance for individual and agency performance with regards to call answering, processing, and dispatching, there are not stated, agency-specific performance goals against which to measure past and future performance.

Establishing performance goals for dispatchers and the agency as a whole could help ensure resources are appropriately deployed.

Future State Considerations
 The Dispatch Center should consider formalizing processes related to EMD Call processing standards.
 While EMD determinant accuracy appears to be improving, the City should consider how to best provide training and performance feedback to dispatchers to ensure they are providing accurate and actionable information to responders. In addition, the City should consider if implementation of a more formal feedback mechanism and establishing individual and agency performance goals would help to improve overall performance. A more formal feedback mechanism could include requiring a dispatcher to acknowledge receipt and review of performance feedback, implementing a more formal follow-up procedure to ensure performance improves, and identifying additional training or steps if performance is not improving.

Training

Dispatchers, and especially EMD dispatchers, require an extensive amount of initial and ongoing training to properly answer calls and provide the appropriate information to responders in an effective and efficient manner. In addition, training helps ensure that dispatchers remain current and in compliance with standards and best practices. The OCA was tasked with assessing the following areas related to training:

• What policies and/or expectations are associated with call processing and EMD? • Which employees receive training on call processing/EMD policies and are they aware of how their performance will be measured, reviewed and/or performance deficiencies addressed? • What continuing education (CE) or follow-up training is required?

9 IAED Accreditation | Standards for Emergency Dispatch - IAED

24 DETAILED ANALYSIS
The Dispatch Center has a comprehensive training manual and formally evaluates EMD calls but does not have a formal process for evaluating other calls received.

The City’s PSAP has a PAPD Communications Training Manual and follows the EMDQ Performance Standards listed in the 2018 International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) Guidance. In addition to this training guidance, dispatchers receive ongoing coaching from Dispatch Center supervisors. Supervisors are tasked with monitoring and observing dispatchers’ performance as it occurs and often provide real-time feedback. For example, if calls are taking longer than expected they will provide feedback and assistance in the midst of the call.

When hired, PSAP employees are provided with a copy of the Communications Training Manual, which includes training procedures for general call processing and protocols for Police and Fire EMD calls. As mentioned above, the City’s PSAP follows the IAED EMDQ Performance Standards Guidance (overview on page 19) to review compliance with EMD protocols. The standards outline seven performance categories to evaluate dispatcher performance. The Dispatch Center evaluates dispatcher performance against these standards during case review and this structured feedback is provided to dispatchers/call takers, shift supervisors, and managers. The aggregate data from case reviews is analyzed to identify trends and evaluate overall system performance. These results are reported to the Dispatch Review and Dispatch Steering Committees.

Performance Deficiencies
As mentioned in the previous sections on Call Processing and EMD, Dispatch Center management said they do not have the staffing nor is there a formal process for reviewing general calls received by the Dispatch Center. For EMD calls, the Communications Manager, Technical Service Director, and EMD-Q meet to discuss results of calls that are pulled and reviewed by the EMD-Q for quality assurance purposes. The Communications Manager then provides performance deficiencies noted in the review to the dispatchers. However, dispatchers do not need to acknowledge receipt of performance information and neither the PAPD Policy Manual nor the Communications Administrative Policies and Procedures document has information about how poor performance should be addressed.

All Dispatchers are in Compliance with Continuing Professional Training Requirements Continuing Education
The City’s PSAP complies with the annual 24 hours of Continuing Professional Training (CPT) for Public Safety Dispatchers. They also comply with the required IAED Certifications for all active dispatchers and communications leadership.

The OCA reviewed the POST EDI Compliance Analysis Report for the current CPT Cycle. The OCA also reviewed the list of current IAED Certification status for all active dispatchers and communications leadership and concluded that all active dispatchers and communications leadership have completed or are still current with meeting their required training.

Future State Considerations
 The City should consider developing and incorporating formal feedback procedures into the Communications Training Manual including processes for addressing performance deficiencies.

25 Appendices

26 Appendix A: Surrounding Organization/Dispatch Center Survey Responses (Based on 2023 Annual Data)

Benchmark Area Palo Alto PSAP County of San Mateo Public Safety Communications Alameda Police Department Mountain View PD/FD Communications
County of Santa Clara
Communications
Department
Population served for 9-1-1
call taking
84,772 (includes 16,200
residents from Stanford
University)
726,353
75,353

81,785
Sheriff: 200,000 County Fire:
225,000
County EMS: 1.8 million
Population served for
dispatch by Secondary
PSAP(s)
N/A 726,353 secondary PSAP
contained within our center. Unknown. N/A N/A
Square miles of the
jurisdiction served 31.53 741 10.45 12 Approx 1,200.

Number of 9-1-1 trunks,
wireline, and wireless 9 25 5 9 23 total; Law: 15, Fire: 4, and Medical 4.

PSAP responsible for
dispatching all calls Yes Yes
Police only. Fire and medical
is dispatched by Alameda
County Regional Emergency
Communications Center
(ACRECC).

Yes Yes
PSAP serving Secondary
PSAPs Yes Yes No No Yes
What types of calls are
routed to Secondary PSAPs
(Police, Fire, EMS,
Jurisdictional, etc.)
N/A Fire, EMS, Public Works Fire, EMS N/A N/A
PSAP service status (Basic
9-1-1, Enhanced 9-1-1,
Phase I, Phase II)
Enhanced 9-1-1 Basic 9-1-1, Enhanced 9-1-1,
Phase I, Phase II
Basic 9-1-1, Enhanced 9-1-1,
Phase I, Phase II
Basic 9-1-1, Enhanced 9-1-1,
Phase I, Phase II
Basic 9-1-1, Enhanced 9-1-1,
Phase I, Phase II
Total annual incoming
emergency call volume at
the PSAP (Number of calls
for service (calls generating
a response))
PAPD: 28,445
SDPS: 9,698
PAFD: 9,355
PAUT: 4,518
PAPW: 323
PAAC: 3,544

Total: 55,883
315,922 67,781
MVMP 485
MVFD 7,931
MVPW 926
MVPD 19,499

Total: 28,841
334,822
Incoming annual 9-1-1 call
volume, broken down into
wireline, wireless, and ten -
digit emergency lines.

Wireline: 8,795
Wireless: 22,451

Total: 31,246
Wireline: 11,710
Wireless: 103,107

Total: 114,817
Wireline: 4,973
Wireless: 27,081

Total: 32,054
Total 911 calls: 26,834. (Don’t
have the ability to break them
down by wireless/landline)
Wireline: 377,792
Wireless: 57,002

Total: 434,794
Total annual dispatch call
volume for Police, Fire, and
EMS
Police: 38,143
Fire: 9,355
EMS: 6,010
Police: 165,975
Fire: 79,051
EMS: 68,175
Police: 49,343
Fire: 0
EMS: 0
Police: 19,498
Fire: 5,542
EMS: 3,153
Police: 141,355
Fire: 29,721
EMS :154,123

27 Total staff, operation and
administrative/support
Currently, there are 17 out of
20 positions filled (4 Lead
Dispatchers, 11 Staff
Dispatchers, and 2 trainees.

There are 3 Per Diem staff
members who come in on an
as-needed basis and can fill in
during a vacancy.)
We are authorized for 55 full-
time Dispatchers. At 46 fully
trained Dispatchers we will be
able to fully staff our Center
without overtime and allow for
each employee to be off the
radio for a minimum of one
hour per day.

Staffing of 14 dispatchers.

Would like to add 2 more
positions in order to
accomplish goal of 3
dispatchers on duty 24/7.

Ideally, have up to 16
dispatchers staffed. Target
minimum staffing is to have 3
dispatchers working from 0800
to 0400, and 2 dispatchers
working from 0400-0800.

Day:14
Overlap: 14
Evening: 14
Night: 9

We ensure we maintain
14/14/9 staffing and will
backfill for vacation and
Leaves with overtime.

Call processing times as
first ring to answer, call
answer through call
termination, and total call
time (for 911 calls)
First ring to answer: 99.53% -
answered in 10 seconds or
less

Call answer through
termination: 93.2 seconds

Total call time: Approx. 103.2
seconds (if answered in 10
seconds)

First ring to answer: 96.45% -
10 seconds or below

call answer through
termination: 96.1 seconds

Total call time: 96.95 seconds

28 Appendix B: Dispatch Center Assessment Question

Staffing

1. How are staffing needs determined?

2. Are there any utilization reports used to determine staffing?

3. How does our staffing compare to PSAPs with similar call volume?

4. How does the Fire component impact the staffing in the center? a. Would the removal of Fire Dispatching change PSAP staffing? b. How would answering 911 calls for service and transferring to another PSAP impact workloads?

5. Determine staffing requirements based on call volume, call duration time, and queueing theory. Factors to be considered for staffing requirements include
a. Community demographics
b. Discipline configuration (Police (Stanford and Palo Alto), Fire, EMS, Public Works, and Utilities) c. Population directly served (Palo Alto and Stanford)
d. Population indirectly served (employees, tourists, etc.) e. Seasonal high visitor counts

6. Compare Palo Alto staffing to other Santa Clara County Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) based on the following information:
a. Population served for 9-1-1 call taking.
b. Population served for dispatch by Secondary PSAP(s)
c. Square miles of the jurisdiction served.
d. Number of 9-1-1 trunks, wireline, and wireless
e. Number of wireless subscribers
f. PSAP responsible for dispatching all calls.
g. PSAP serving Secondary PSAPs
h. What types of calls are routed to Secondary PSAPs (Police, Fire, EMS, Jurisdictional, etc.) i. PSAP service status (Basic 9-1-1, Enhanced 9-1-1, Phase I, Phase II) j. Total annual incoming emergency call volume at the PSAP k. Incoming annual 9-1-1 call volume, broken down into wireline, wireless, and ten -digit emergency lines. l. Total annual dispatch call volume for Police, Fire, and EMS m. Total staff, operation and administrative/support
n. Call processing times as first ring to answer, call answer through call termination, and total call time.

7. Determine the manning ratio, required staff versus actual staff, PSAP size recommended staffing, and additional staffing requirements from collected data.

8. Determine call volumes based on the average bouncing busy hour (ABBH) as measured during a minimum 14-day period during the busiest time of the year for 9-1-1 calls.
a. Determine the normal call volume received during an average hour. b. Determine the peak call volume expected to be received during the busiest hour of the day. c. Determine the average number of dispatchers on duty per shift during the day.

9. Determine the call duration for each category of calls.

29 Call Processing

1. What is the standard for call processing 911 calls?

2. What is the compliance on meeting the call processing standard?

3. Is there a Quality Assurance (QA) process and how often is the data reviewed?

Emergency Medical Dispatching (EMD)

1. What is the EMD compliance standard for 911 emergency medical calls?

2. What is the accuracy for EMD determinants?
a. For medical calls for service marked with “NOEMD”
b. For medical calls for service marked with exceptions for NOEMD vs. N/A

3. Quality Assurance (QA)
a. What is the QA process for EMD compliance and accuracy? b. What is the compliance for EMD calls?
c. What is the target for reviewing EMD calls?

1. What is the volume of medical calls for service to be reviewed and the frequency that they are reviewed for EMD compliance and accuracy?

2. What percentage of medical calls are reviewed for EMD compliance and accuracy: weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually?

3. If that goal is not met, how is it addressed?
Training

1. Are there policies and/or expectations associated with the above subjects (call-processing and EMD)?

2. Are all new employees trained to the call-processing/EMD policies and are they aware of how their performance will be measured, reviewed or addressed?

3. Which of the above subjects require continued education (CE) or follow-up training? a. How are performance deficiencies addressed?