Hawaii 2022 Regular Session

Hawaii House Bill HCR105 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.C.R. NO. 105 THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 STATE OF HAWAII HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URging the counties to recognize 911 emergency services dispatchers as FIRST RESPONDERS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE JURISDICTIONS.
2	2
3	3	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.C.R. NO. 105
4	4	THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
5	5	STATE OF HAWAII
6	6
7	7	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8
9	9	H.C.R. NO.
10	10
11	11	105
12	12
13	13	THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
14	14
15	15
16	16
17	17	STATE OF HAWAII
18	18
19	19
20	20
21	21
22	22
23	23
24	24
25	25
26	26
27	27
28	28
29	29	HOUSE CONCURRENT
30	30
31	31	RESOLUTION
32	32
33	33
34	34
35	35
36	36
37	37	URging the counties to recognize 911 emergency services dispatchers as FIRST RESPONDERS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE JURISDICTIONS.
38	38
39	39
40	40
41	41
42	42
43	43
44	44
45	45	WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers in the City and County of Honolulu, County of Hawaii, County of Kauai, and County of Maui are part of the critical infrastructure of the public safety system in each of the jurisdictions; and WHEREAS, these emergency services personnel play a critical role in emergency response, as these personnel are very often the first public safety employees to handle an emergency; are the first line of communication for persons needing law enforcement, fire, or medical response; and are a lifeline to law enforcement, fire, and medical responders in the field; and WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers are responsible for an array of duties and services, including operating advanced automated terminals, using multiple robust lifesaving procedures and technologies to obtain critical information from callers, analyzing the information provided to them, and, in some cases, utilizing specialized mapping systems to send the appropriate and closest available emergency unit and communicate the best course of action for the caller to take before the emergency unit arrives; and WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers deal with immensely stressful situations as their job responsibilities involve making split-second decisions that affect the safety and well-being of the public and field responders and delivering vital emergency pre-arrival instructions daily; and WHEREAS, information gathered and relayed by 911 emergency services dispatchers can mean the difference between life and death for callers and field responders; 911 emergency services dispatchers provide an integral basis for effective public safety response and often can prevent incidents from worsening before field responders arrive; and WHEREAS, with the emergence of Next Generation 911, 911 emergency services dispatchers may be subject to graphic photographs and audio and live video streaming of emergency situations; and WHEREAS, although 911 emergency services dispatchers are not physically at the scene of emergencies, they often suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as their job duties include answering multiple traumatic calls, banding successful radio incidents, and communicating with people in states of distress, fear, or injury; and WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers receive specialized training and must be certified to work in 911 emergency telecommunications centers in their respective jurisdictions; and WHEREAS, in 2020, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1945, which defines a first responder as an employee of the state or a local public agency who provides emergency response services, including a peace officer; a firefighter; a paramedic; an emergency medical technician; or a public safety dispatcher or public safety telecommunicator, which is defined as an individual employed by a public safety agency, as the initial first responder, whose primary responsibility is to receive, process, transmit, or dispatch emergency and nonemergency calls for law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, and other public safety services by telephone, radio, or other communication device, and includes an individual who promotes from this position and supervises individuals who perform these functions; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Act 63, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, the Department of Human Resources Development submitted a report to the Legislature in which the counties found that the work performed by other dispatchers are not comparable to that of emergency services dispatcher positions; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the counties are urged to recognize emergency services dispatchers, who receive, dispatch, and respond to 911 calls, texts, and other requests, as first responders in their respective jurisdictions; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the job classifications of 911 emergency services dispatchers be updated to include the duties of 911 emergency services dispatchers as first responders; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Mayors and Council Chairs of the City and County of Honolulu and Counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui. OFFERED BY: _____________________________ Report Title: 911 Emergency Services Dispatchers; First Responders; Counties
46	46
47	47	WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers in the City and County of Honolulu, County of Hawaii, County of Kauai, and County of Maui are part of the critical infrastructure of the public safety system in each of the jurisdictions; and
48	48
49	49
50	50
51	51	WHEREAS, these emergency services personnel play a critical role in emergency response, as these personnel are very often the first public safety employees to handle an emergency; are the first line of communication for persons needing law enforcement, fire, or medical response; and are a lifeline to law enforcement, fire, and medical responders in the field; and
52	52
53	53
54	54
55	55	WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers are responsible for an array of duties and services, including operating advanced automated terminals, using multiple robust lifesaving procedures and technologies to obtain critical information from callers, analyzing the information provided to them, and, in some cases, utilizing specialized mapping systems to send the appropriate and closest available emergency unit and communicate the best course of action for the caller to take before the emergency unit arrives; and
56	56
57	57
58	58
59	59	WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers deal with immensely stressful situations as their job responsibilities involve making split-second decisions that affect the safety and well-being of the public and field responders and delivering vital emergency pre-arrival instructions daily; and
60	60
61	61
62	62
63	63	WHEREAS, information gathered and relayed by 911 emergency services dispatchers can mean the difference between life and death for callers and field responders; 911 emergency services dispatchers provide an integral basis for effective public safety response and often can prevent incidents from worsening before field responders arrive; and
64	64
65	65
66	66
67	67	WHEREAS, with the emergence of Next Generation 911, 911 emergency services dispatchers may be subject to graphic photographs and audio and live video streaming of emergency situations; and
68	68
69	69
70	70
71	71	WHEREAS, although 911 emergency services dispatchers are not physically at the scene of emergencies, they often suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as their job duties include answering multiple traumatic calls, banding successful radio incidents, and communicating with people in states of distress, fear, or injury; and
72	72
73	73
74	74
75	75	WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers receive specialized training and must be certified to work in 911 emergency telecommunications centers in their respective jurisdictions; and
76	76
77	77
78	78
79	79	WHEREAS, in 2020, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1945, which defines a first responder as an employee of the state or a local public agency who provides emergency response services, including a peace officer; a firefighter; a paramedic; an emergency medical technician; or a public safety dispatcher or public safety telecommunicator, which is defined as an individual employed by a public safety agency, as the initial first responder, whose primary responsibility is to receive, process, transmit, or dispatch emergency and nonemergency calls for law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, and other public safety services by telephone, radio, or other communication device, and includes an individual who promotes from this position and supervises individuals who perform these functions; and
80	80
81	81
82	82
83	83	WHEREAS, pursuant to Act 63, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, the Department of Human Resources Development submitted a report to the Legislature in which the counties found that the work performed by other dispatchers are not comparable to that of emergency services dispatcher positions; now, therefore,
84	84
85	85
86	86
87	87	BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the counties are urged to recognize emergency services dispatchers, who receive, dispatch, and respond to 911 calls, texts, and other requests, as first responders in their respective jurisdictions; and
88	88
89	89
90	90
91	91	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the job classifications of 911 emergency services dispatchers be updated to include the duties of 911 emergency services dispatchers as first responders; and
92	92
93	93
94	94
95	95	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Mayors and Council Chairs of the City and County of Honolulu and Counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui.
96	96
97	97
98	98
99	99
100	100
101	101
102	102
103	103	OFFERED BY: _____________________________
104	104
105	105
106	106
107	107	OFFERED BY:
108	108
109	109	_____________________________
110	110
111	111
112	112
113	113
114	114
115	115	Report Title:
116	116
117	117	911 Emergency Services Dispatchers; First Responders; Counties