Dispatcher bill sparked by deaths of Lodi girls signed
A bill requiring California Highway Patrol dispatchers to take a six-hour training course in handling medical emergencies was signed Wednesday by Gov. George Dukemejian.
The bill sponsored by Assemblyman Patrick Johnston, D-Stockton, was prompted in part by a 1984 accident that claimed the lives of two 6-year-old Lodi girls.
"I think it's a good first step in establishing a floor of training for dispatchers," Johnston said after the bill was signed.
The CHP currently has no minimum standards for training dispatchers, and patrol officials opposed the original version of the bill when it was introduced in the Legislature in April.
CHP officials rebuffed a proposal that would have required 40 hours of basic training for dispatchers, saying it was not needed and would be too costly.
Training for the dispatchers, which will begin next year will be outlines by the state Emergency Medical Services Authority.
Johnston said the bill sends a message to other public safety agencies that they can do more to train dispatchers to better deal with medical emergencies.
"I'm really pleased because it was a real battle at the beginning," said Kathi Ranagan, mother of one of the girls who died in the April 29 accident on West Lane near Eight Mile Road. Lisa Ranagan died after waiting 18 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at the accident scene.
Lisa Ranagan and Julie Esau lingered on the side of the road as dispatchers disputed jurisdictional boundaries. Ten dispatchers and five emergency response agencies were involved in the botched call. One ambulance dispatched to the accident was canceled by another agency.
"To some people, six hours (of training) isn't a lot. But six hours of training may have made a difference on April 29," Kathi Ranagan said.
Ranagan lauded the Stockton assemblyman for pushing the bill through in spite of CHP opposition. "I'm sure he didn't make a lot of friends" while pursuing passage of the bill, she said.