Promising a “complete policy overhaul,” the new leader of D.C.’s heavily-criticized 911 call center said she would be beefing up oversight within the agency and implementing increased training requirements over the next 90 days.
“I will continue to implement initiatives that will strengthen our agency,” said Heather McGaffin, acting director of the Office of Unified Communications, the agency that operates the call center.
McGaffin, who was nominated for the position of director by Mayor Muriel Bowser earlier this month, will ultimately need to be confirmed by the D.C. Council.
“This is a fresh start,” McGaffin told reporters on Wednesday. “We have a direction, and we have a game plan moving forward.”
McGaffin has a lot of work ahead of her, as OUC has often come under fire for delays in sending out ambulances as well as mistakes made, such as sending emergency crews out to incorrect locations.
In September, the D.C. auditor said OUC was “failing to meet the needs of District residents,” when it came to emergency response.
That comment came nearly a year after a scathing report found the 911 center struggled to dispatch emergency crews to the correct locations and was failing to meet national standards.
One of the main changes McGaffin outlined Wednesday was the fact that new employees would receive 14 weeks of training, instead of the five weeks previously required.
“Eight of those weeks will be classroom training with nationally certified instructors, which is new to the Office of Unified Communications,” McGaffin said. “A policy overhaul that now includes 14 weeks of training is huge.”
Trainees who fail to meet “weekly benchmarks” will be held accountable, according to McGaffin.
“If you’re not responsive to the training and you’re not able to do the job, we have to make tough decisions, and we are going to make tough decisions,” McGaffin said.
More supervisors have been added to the staff too. Each 12-hour shift now has between four and five supervisors, compared to the two or three who were on hand previously.
McGaffin said the agency would also increase community outreach, including by launching a new five-week “Junior Academy” for high school students.
Students can sign up for the program to receive firsthand experience at OUC and perhaps determine if they would be interested in pursuing a career there.
