Illinois Tollway Dispatch training programs recognized for achieving top industry standards

Illinois Tollway Dispatch training programs recognized for achieving top industry standards

The Illinois Tollway has been recognized as having one of the nation’s best training programs for public safety telecommunications dispatchers.  
 
The Tollway is one of only six public safety agencies in Illinois to have its dispatch training program certified by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, which establishes industry standards for public safety professionals. 
 
Nationwide, fewer than 1 percent of the nearly 9,000 public safety answering points achieve this honor.
 
“The certification of our telecommunicator training programs demonstrates the Tollway’s unwavering dedication to the safety of our customers,” said Illinois Tollway Chief Information Officer Michael Shay. “Congratulations to our Dispatch team for maintaining the highest standards of excellence in public safety telecommunications.” 
 
The Illinois Tollway’s telecommunicator training curriculum was first certified by APCO in 2019. It recently underwent a rigorous, months-long peer review to determine whether it continues to meet all the program's standards and benchmarks to be recertified. Tollway Dispatch earlier this year was trained on a new, upgraded dispatch system that includes additional capabilities, including the ability to pinpoint the location of cellphones used to make calls to 911, which will improve accuracy and response times for first responders. 
 
Illinois Tollway Dispatch employs about 32 public safety telecommunicators and call takers responsible for providing reliable emergency communications 24/7/365 for Roadway Maintenance and Illinois State Police Troop 15, the special district that patrols the 294-mile Tollway system.  
 
Last year, Dispatch handled more than 150,000 calls for assistance, from helping motorists involved in crashes, to medical emergencies to law enforcement activities and customers seeking roadside assistance – including calls directed from the *999 motorist assistance service. 
 
Ongoing training for public safety telecommunicators is vital because they provide an essential safety service for the traveling public, oftentimes in emergency situations, in an ever-expanding and rapidly changing public safety environment. The APCO training program certification allows public safety agencies to demonstrate that their training programs meet industry best practices. 
 
The Tollway will be recognized at the APCO 89th Annual Conference & Expo in early August. 

PREVIOUS POSTS