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AHRQ unveils emergency call center operation model

Emergency Management Alert, March 22, 2005

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released last week a new operations model for emergency call centers specifically designed to help public health agencies and other first responders provide accurate and timely information during a health emergency. During an emergency, public health departments and state and local officials will now be able to quickly answer calls from the public.

Denver Health developed the Rocky Mountain Regional Health Emergency Assistance Line and Triage Hub (HEALTH) model, which offers guidance to organizations on requirements, specifications, and resources necessary in a public health emergency contact center. Medical contact centers receive an increased number of calls during natural disasters. A goal of the model is to handle 1,000 calls per hour from the public or healthcare providers.

"In the face of a public health emergency, the public and healthcare providers want and need accurate, timely information," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, MD. "This new model will prove to be of real value to medical contact centers that want to gear up to meet information demands in natural or man-made public health emergencies."

For more information about the Rocky Mountain Regional HEALTH model, visit www.ahrq.gov/research/health.

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