Health system leaders recognize that the safety of clinicians, staff, patients, and visitors is paramount.
Now, new federal laws require you to transmit additional information to 911 dispatchers for calls placed through your organization’s phone system. This information will help first responders accurately locate callers, which may make the difference when seconds count. However, compliance could be challenging for health systems with large campuses or those providing multi-specialties clinical services within a single facility.
This article will help you assess your compliance posture and begin your compliance journey.
Overview
Since 2020, Kari’s Law and Ray Baum’s Act mandate that business phone systems provide additional life-saving information than previously available on a 911 call. These laws apply to all business phone systems, regardless of business size. The FCC is chiefly responsible for enforcement, but local 911 centers or other public officials may launch an enforcement process. Recently, several states assigned task forces to identify businesses that are not compliant.
Kari’s Law
Taking its name from a Texas mother who lost her life in an attack, Kari’s Law seeks to address the phone system problems that contributed to the tragedy. Kari Hunt’s young daughter attempted a 911 call during the attack on her mother but was unaware the phone system required a “9” for an outside line. Further, the business was also unaware of 911 call attempts occurring, so nobody onsite could render aid.
Kari’s Law Assessment
Q. Can anyone call 911 without dialing a “9” or other outside access code?
A. 911 means 911; outside access codes for 911 calls are now illegal.
Q. If 911 is called, does someone within your organization receive a notification of the caller’s
location and phone number?
A. The law requires a notification to be sent, including the caller’s location and phone
number.
Q. Will the 911 dispatcher see a phone number that, if called back, connects to the caller?
A. The dispatcher must be able to call the number displayed and reach the caller. Main
numbers that use receptionists or IVR menus may prevent the dispatcher from
reaching the caller.
Ray Baum’s Act
Ray Baum’s Act applies to on-premises and off-premises phones (i.e., remote workers), including computer-based softphones such as Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex/Jabber, or Zoom. This law requires that a “dispatchable location” be included with any 911 call.
A dispatchable location is defined as “A location delivered to the public safety answering point (PSAP) with a 911 call that consists of the validated street address of the calling party, plus additional information such as suite, apartment or similar information necessary to adequately identify the location of the calling party.”
Because healthcare organizations have numerous buildings and floor plans, defining dispatchable locations for each facility requires thoughtful planning and coordination with your facility and IT teams. Remote workers, too, must have dispatchable location information assigned to their corporate phone or softphone.
Your organization can leverage the dispatchable location information in the notifications required by Kari’s Law to aid onsite incident response staff in providing an initial response or guide first responders to the caller’s location.
Ray Baum’s Act Assessment
Q. How does your organization collect, and keep up to date, the dispatchable location of a remote worker if they have a corporate phone or softphone?
A. Most organizations require a third-party solution to collect and maintain this
information as their phone system is incapable of this process.
Q. Has your organization assigned a dispatchable location for all units, floors, and other defined locations within each facility?
A. We recommend assigning locations corresponding to existing signage,
office, and floor numbers. As with remote workers, most organizations
require a third-party solution to achieve compliance for on-premises phones.
Q. How does your organization insert the required additional location information with every 911 call?
A. Inserting dispatchable location information most often requires a
third-party solution to insert the information when 911 is called. While there are limited
compliance options for on-premises phones, remote worker phones almost always
require additional services.
9Line provides on-premises and remote emergency calling solutions to healthcare organizations of all sizes without compromising affordability. 9Line helps you achieve compliance at a fraction of the cost with integrations for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Emergency Responder, Microsoft Teams, and BroadWorks.
To begin your journey toward 911 compliance, visit our site or contact us to schedule a review of your unique requirements.
Web: https://9line911.com
Email: healthcare@9line911.com
