Fire Alarm Center Quality Assurance Coordinator

Quality Assurance Coordinator

The Seattle Fire Department is seeking a temporary, non-benefitted Quality Assurance Coordinator to support the Fire Alarm Center.

In the City of Seattle, fire and medical emergency calls are processed by the Seattle Fire Department's 911 call center known as the Fire Alarm Center (FAC). All FAC dispatchers are SFD uniformed members, certified Emergency Medical Technicians, and Emergency Medical Dispatchers. The FAC Quality Assurance (QA) Coordinator plays a pivotal role in ensuring the success and continued improvement of the dispatch services provided. The QA Coordinator gathers and compiles sensitive dispatch information and protected health information from various sources using a variety of methods and processes, and reviews the data for completeness, accuracy and comparability of dispatcher performance, patient care records and operational response times. Using this information, the QA Coordinator produces a variety of summaries and reports detailing findings. The QA Coordinator will perform quality management assessments, provide support to the Communications Division leadership through fact finding and reporting, and review cardiac arrest incidents. This position will develop and disseminate strategic communication to various stakeholders pertinent to the FAC operations and collaborative efforts with partnered service providers with the FAC and Medic One program. The successful candidate will obtain an understanding of program guidelines, have the ability to interpret and apply department policies and procedures, and understand both qualitative and quantitative data methods. In this role you will be asked to initiate various quality improvement initiatives that have yet to be developed.

This position is budgeted to work a 32 hour per week schedule and will last through the end of December 2026.

Job Responsibilities

Manage the FAC Quality Assurance (QA)/Quality Enhancement (QE) program:

• Analyze and evaluate audits of dispatcher's calls.
• Analyze and evaluate data from audit criteria and compile into summaries and reports.
• Present results to FAC administration.
• Communicate results of QA reviews to dispatchers.
• Identify trends and recommend enhancements for future dispatch training.
• Prepare multiple reports to help track and evaluate call data.

Participate on the Complaint Review Team to help investigate complaints received by the FAC:

• Gather and compile: audio pertinent to the incident; Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) incident data; protocol software data; and any other relevant data available in reporting software.
• Prepare evaluation of the incident.

Act as a liaison and coordinate with the Medic One Program:

• Analyze and evaluate all cardiac arrest 911 calls and communicate feedback to dispatchers.
• Coordinate with the University of Washington Emergency Medical Services/Medic One Research and Quality Improvement Team.
• Develop a system-wide approach to cardiac arrest reviews. This entails case identification, patient care record review, audio file acquisition and review, protocol and outcome review, timely provider feedback, and system-wide improvement suggestions presented to SFD leadership for implementation.
• Compile and present data from dispatcher evaluations to the Medic One Research Group.
• Attend monthly FAC/Medic One meetings.

Assist in the development, implementation, and maintenance of Seattle Fire Department Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Protocols:

• Assist Communications Training Coordinator with refining and improving EMD protocols through fact finding processes and data analysis.
• Present/report on specific EMD data to assist with adjustment of current protocols.
• Recommend changes to Corti software.
• Identify and solicit input from FAC Administration and firefighters/dispatchers to make recommendations on improvements to services delivered.
• Coordinate with FAC administration and CTC to develop and implement new, ongoing, and remedial training programs.
• Prepare and present reports on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. Ensure all industry standards are met.
• Coordinate with Corti to determine software needs.

Attend and participate in FAC Staff Meetings.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Two years of course work in business or public administration, finance, computer science or a related field (or a combination of education, training and/or experience that provides an equivalent background required to perform the work of the class).

Successful candidates will also possess the following skills, abilities, and experience:

• Two or more years of Emergency Call Center experience in the capacity of dispatcher, call-taker, supervisor, trainer, or Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement Specialist.
• Experience with sensitive information and protected patient information and electronic health record databases.
• Knowledge of computer software and database management techniques.
• Experience with data management and report writing and automation in programs such as Microsoft Excel, and the visualization of data in programs such as Power BI and Tableau. Intermediate-level expertise with PC hardware and software (Microsoft Word and Media Player).
• Strong project management experience.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including written and oral presentations.
• Ability to work effectively and calmly in stressful situations with competing deadlines.
• Demonstrated emotional intelligence in a manner that develops and maintains cooperative and professional relationships with departmental employees, managers, and representatives from other departments and organizations.
• Experience as a first responder in a Fire, Police, or EMS capacity or technical support staff in Fire, Police or EMS environment is desired.
• Experience in designing and implementing performance measurement instruments and mechanisms such as data dashboards, and data architecture knowledge or applied experience is desired.

Additional Information

The salary for this position is $41.44 - $48.31 per hour.

The Seattle Fire Department is looking to create a diverse team of hardworking, committed individuals with a passion for public service and who are deeply aligned with our City's values of Race and Social Justice. The City of Seattle is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants are considered for positions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, gender identity, political ideology or any other basis prohibited by federal, state and local laws.