Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority Meets PSAP Demands

Jennifer Gorham is a familiar face at the Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority (MVRDA) in Las Cruces, New Mexico. With 16 years of service, she has worked with a lot of employees, supervisors, and even the Board of Directors. Working in Administrative Service means that Jennifer wears many 'hats' across MVRDA, including finance, human resources, onboarding, training, safety coordination, and risk management.

MVRDA was created in 1989 through a Joint Powers Agreement between the City of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County, becoming the first consolidated dispatch center in the State of New Mexico, now serving as the primary PSAP for Doña Ana County, the City of Las Cruces, the City of Sunland Park, the City of Anthony, the Town of Mesilla, and the Village of Hatch. Jennifer is responsible for the onboarding of new employees and implemented the training platform for 54 full-time employees, including 11 administrative staff who have different training and credential requirements.

As a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) that dispatches for law enforcement, fire services, and emergency medical services agencies, Jennifer manages many different training needs for special skill sets and expertise required for the various positions at MVRDA. To help assign, track and report on all the various training and certifications, Jennifer worked with Vector Solutions to implement their Learning Management System (LMS) in early 2020.

Simplified Training Helps Keep Everyone On Track

Jennifer has set up an onboarding training program that extends a full year and includes multiple phases and courses, including training activities on the use of NCIC, CAD, 9-1-1 call taking equipment, APCO courses, customer service, safety requirement courses, and more.

MVRDA has also created several different activities and credentials to simplify the delivery and tracking of continuing training courses, policy dissemination, license expiration monitoring, equipment assignments, and even annual performance review documentation.

Improved Communication and Documentation

MVRDA has made great use of the LMS to save time, improve training, and ensure everything is communicated properly and documented. For example:

• The Medical Director recorded the training they typically do twice each month for two shifts and uploaded it, along with supplemental resources, to provide online access through the LMS for staff to take at their convenience (which worked especially well during the COVID period).
• Recurring policy reviews and training can be automated for the respective time period and set to renew for the next time period upon completion (i.e. taking FEMA courses every other year).
• Reminders and employee engagement resources can be posted on the bulletin board for all LMS users to see upon login.
• Onboarding, continued training, annual performance reviews, and policy acknowledgements are all kept in one place for a comprehensive record of staff performance and compliance.
• Past employee history is archived but accessible as needed to provide past training and certification documentation.
• Driver's license expirations and headset and locker assignments are all tracked through the LMS Credentials to document when an employee needs to renew their license and to track equipment assignments.

Jennifer shared that the City of Las Cruces Human Resource department introduced them to the Vector LMS solution, which they use across several city departments, including the Fire Department. "The Vector Support Team has been amazing," said Jennifer. "And now that employees can get their information they need directly from the LMS, I'm not getting as many phone calls. It's helped us improve our process in many areas, including better documentation and risk management."