CAPCOG conducted a National Emergency Number Association (NENA) Center Manager Certificate Program in March for several of the region’s public safety answering point staff, but the week-long course also brought students from as far away from California, Virginia and the Dominican Republic to improve their 9-1-1 center management and supervisor skills.
“Having peers from outside of the region and the country helps to reinforce the practices and lessons learned during the course, because each student can see that communication centers everywhere have similar struggles,” said Veronica Neal, CAPCOG 9-1-1 senior training specialist.
The upper-level emergency communications training program uses a real-world, hands-on approach and focuses on topics encountered daily by managerial and supervisory personnel. Its curriculum is compiled by current and former 9-1-1 center managers with decades of combined experience that provides attendees with the knowledge and skills to improve their on-the-job effectiveness and enhance an agency’s everyday operations. “The course really equips people with the tools and resources needed to manage a communications center,” Neal said. “However, the most valuable tool is the support network the course builds; if you face a challenge in the future, you can reach out to your fellow classmates for solutions.”
Twenty-nine people attended the course, 17 of which were from the CAPCOG region. CAPCOG held the program in 2019 as well, and it is currently planning a 2021 session.
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