(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:(a) “911 public safety telecommunicator” means a public safety dispatcher or 911 operator whose duties and responsibilities include the answering, receiving, transferring, and dispatching functions related to 911 calls; dispatching law enforcement officers, fire rescue services, emergency medical services, and other public safety services to the scene of an emergency; providing real-time information from federal, state, and local crime databases; or supervising or serving as the command officer to a person or persons having such duties and responsibilities. However, the term does not include administrative support personnel, including, but not limited to, those whose primary duties and responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and personnel.
(b) “Department” means the Department of Health.
(c) “Public safety agency” has the same meaning as in s. 365.171(3)(d). (d) “Public safety telecommunication training program” means a 911 emergency public safety telecommunication training program that the department determines to be equivalent to the public safety telecommunication training program curriculum framework developed by the Department of Education and consists of not less than 232 hours.
(e) “Telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation training” means specific training, including continuous education, that is evidence-based and contains nationally accepted guidelines for high-quality telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation with the recognition of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest over the telephone and the delivery of telephonic instructions for treating cardiac arrest and performing compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
(2) PERSONNEL; STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION.—(a) Effective October 1, 2012, any person employed as a 911 public safety telecommunicator at a public safety answering point, as defined in s. 365.172(3), must be certified by the department. (b) A public safety agency may employ a 911 public safety telecommunicator trainee for a period not to exceed 12 months if the trainee works under the direct supervision of a certified 911 public safety telecommunicator, as determined by rule of the department, and is enrolled in a public safety telecommunication training program.
(c) An applicant for certification or recertification as a 911 public safety telecommunicator must apply to the department under oath on forms provided by the department. The department shall establish by rule educational and training criteria for the certification and recertification of 911 public safety telecommunicators.
(d) The department shall determine whether the applicant meets the requirements specified in this section and in rules of the department and shall issue a certificate to any person who meets such requirements. Such requirements must include all of the following:1. Completion of an appropriate 911 public safety telecommunication training program.
2. Certification under oath that the applicant is not addicted to alcohol or any controlled substance.
3. Certification under oath that the applicant is free from any physical or mental defect or disease that might impair the applicant’s ability to perform his or her duties.
4. Submission of the application fee prescribed in subsection (4).
5. Submission of a completed application to the department which indicates compliance with subparagraphs 1., 2., and 3.
6. Effective October 1, 2012, passage of an examination approved by the department which measures the applicant’s competency and proficiency in the subject material of the public safety telecommunication training program.
(e) The department shall establish by rule a procedure that requires 20 hours of training for the biennial renewal certification of 911 public safety telecommunicators.
History.—s. 2, ch. 2008-51; s. 3, ch. 2010-188; s. 29, ch. 2011-4; s. 1, ch. 2012-24; s. 9, ch. 2013-16; s. 3, ch. 2014-196; s. 1, ch. 2022-51; s. 1, ch. 2023-122.
1Note.—Section 2, ch. 2023-122, provides that:“(1) The amendments made by this act to s. 401.465(2)(f) and (h), Florida Statutes, apply regardless of whether the certificateholder voluntarily placed his or her certificate in inactive status pursuant to former s. 401.465(2)(h), Florida Statutes, or the certificate reverted to inactive status pursuant to s. 401.465(2)(f), Florida Statutes, during the 6-year period before the effective date of this act. Beginning on the effective date of this act, the Department of Health may not require a certificateholder to pay a fee or to make an election to place his or her certificate in inactive status.
“(2) Any fee paid by a certificateholder to voluntarily place his or her certificate in inactive status during the 6-year period before the effective date of this act must be credited toward any future renewal fee required to be paid by the certificateholder under s. 401.465(2)(h), Florida Statutes.
“(3) This act is remedial in nature and applies retroactively to any public safety telecommunicator certificate that has expired pursuant to former s. 401.465(2)(f), Florida Statutes, during the 6-year period before the effective date of this act.”