The National Incident Dispatcher Association (NIDA) has been launched as the first ever national association dedicated to Incident Dispatchers.
NIDA has been founded by five dispatchers who have been at the forefront of the creation, development, and training of the Incident Dispatch concept and its variations since 1992. Bonnie Maney (Palm Beach, FL), Randall Larson (San Jose, CA), Dave Larton (Gilroy, CA), Tammy Smith (Mountain View, CA), and Don Stabler (Contra Costa County, CA, ret’d) were each instrumental in developing national concepts of incident and tactical dispatchers, and remain lead instructors in the certification and development of Incident/Tactical Dispatcher Teams at local and state levels.
An Incident Dispatcher is a dispatcher or telecommunicator who has been certified and/or qualified by any governmental agency or entity and/or has been authorized by an employing public safety agency to respond outside of his or her own communications center to provide communications support in a field environment. NIDA represents fire service Incident Dispatchers, law enforcement Tactical Dispatchers, as well as All-Risk Incident Dispatch Teams.
NIDA has been created to serve as a resource depository and standards-setting organization to assist interested agencies in developing and managing Incident/Tactical Dispatcher Teams and individuals in developing related personal skills and standards. The goals of NIDA are simple and include recommending standards of certification, qualification, and training for Incident Dispatchers; the identification and standardization of the role of the Incident Dispatcher in fire rescue, law enforcement, and all-risk variations; serving as a support organization to provide input, support, and informational resources to agencies seeking to establish an IDT; and coordinating with other entities and organizations that are developing Incident Dispatcher or similar field deployable positions.
For more information, or to apply for NIDA membership, see www.incidentdispatch.net.
