Hawaii 2022 Regular Session

Hawaii House Bill HR101 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.R. NO. 101 THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 STATE OF HAWAII HOUSE 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.R. NO. 101
4	4	THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
5	5	STATE OF HAWAII
6	6
7	7	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8
9	9	H.R. NO.
10	10
11	11	101
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 RESOLUTION
30	30
31	31
32	32
33	33
34	34
35	35	URging the counties to recognize 911 emergency services dispatchers as FIRST RESPONDERS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE JURISDICTIONS.
36	36
37	37
38	38
39	39
40	40
41	41
42	42
43	43	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, 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 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
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
46	46
47	47
48	48
49	49	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
50	50
51	51
52	52
53	53	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
54	54
55	55
56	56
57	57	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
58	58
59	59
60	60
61	61	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
62	62
63	63
64	64
65	65	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
66	66
67	67
68	68
69	69	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
70	70
71	71
72	72
73	73	WHEREAS, 911 emergency services dispatchers receive specialized training and must be certified to work in 911 emergency telecommunications centers in their respective jurisdictions; and
74	74
75	75
76	76
77	77	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
78	78
79	79
80	80
81	81	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,
82	82
83	83
84	84
85	85	BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, 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
86	86
87	87
88	88
89	89	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
90	90
91	91
92	92
93	93	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Mayors and Council Chairs of the City and County of Honolulu and Counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui.
94	94
95	95
96	96
97	97
98	98
99	99
100	100
101	101	OFFERED BY: _____________________________
102	102
103	103
104	104
105	105	OFFERED BY:
106	106
107	107	_____________________________
108	108
109	109
110	110
111	111
112	112
113	113	Report Title:
114	114
115	115	911 Emergency Services Dispatchers; First Responders; Counties