FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Kris Berg
(800) 960-6236 ext. 116
kris.berg@emergencydispatch.org
NAED acknowledges distinguished members at annual Navigator conference
The National Academies of Emergency Dispatch® (NAED™) presented several awards during its annual Navigator conference held April 26-30 at the Coronado Springs Resort in Florida.
Jerry Overton, president and chief executive officer of Road Safety International, Inc., received the Jeff Clawson Leadership Award, and Meridith Jensen, an EMD for the Colorado Springs Police Department, was honored as the Dispatcher of the Year.
Overton’s has held EMS positions with the Metropolitan Ambulance Service Trust (MAST) in Kansas City, Mo., where he served as executive director, and to similar positions with the Kansas City EMS system and the Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA) in Virginia. He guided the development and expansion of the MAST-provided emergency services program, and later in his career, he was among the first directors of a large EMS to embrace the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS®).
“He is the backbone of everything the Academy (NAED™), EMS, and public safety stand for,” Dr. Clawson said during the award presentation. “He is instrumental in changing the face of EMS in America.”
Jensen received the award not based on a single phone call or even the 97.3% compliance score in all three protocols, according to NAED Associate Director Carlynn Page. While certainly commendable, the choice was made based on a chain of events, from her direct efforts in CPR to save the life of a girl stricken by a fatal heart condition on a school playground, to the calls she now answers as an EMD, EFD, and EPD.
For Jensen, the profession complements her compassion and composure.
“For that one moment, I am the only person able to help the other person on the line,” said Jensen, an EMD, EFD, and EPD for the Colorado Springs Police Department. “I’m there for that person at the moment of crisis.”
The NAED also recognized the 29 graduates of the Communication Centers Managers (CCM) course and centers achieving the rank of Accredited Centers of Excellence.
Overton and Jensen were among the more than 1,200 people from emergency communications centers from around the world attending pre-conference and conference events. This year’s show turned the resort right outside the gates of Walt Disney World into dispatch central mixing field trips, education, entertainment, and networking.
The NAED is a nonprofit association, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that specializes in the development of emergency communications center dispatch protocol.
