1. (1) Every emergency call taker or public safety dispatcher who receives an initial or transferred 911 call from the public in Tennessee shall have successfully completed a training course in emergency cardiovascular care guidelines for telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation (T-CPR) pursuant to T.C.A. § 7-86-205(a)(2).
2. (2) T-CPR training shall identify common barriers to assessing patient consciousness and breathing status during a call and provide strategies to overcome those barriers. Training shall define Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA), its signs and symptoms, and barriers to recognition. Training shall also ensure that telecommunicators can provide instructions for cardiac arrest victims via TTY/TDD and Next Generation 911 technologies, such as texting.
3. (3) Any hours of T-CPR training or course work may count towards satisfying the Minimum Training Requirements from Rule 0780-06-02-.03 or the Minimum Course of Study Requirements from Rule 0780-06-02-.04.

4. (4) (a) Every emergency communications district (ECD) shall establish and administer an ongoing quality assurance program to measure and improve T-CPR adherence by each emergency call taker or public safety dispatcher in the ECD who receives an initial or transferred 911 call from the public in Tennessee. At a minimum, the program shall:

   1. 1. Verify that each emergency call taker or public safety dispatcher in the ECD who receives an initial or transferred 911 call at any point has successfully completed a T-CPR program;
   2. 2. Monitor emergency call taker and public safety dispatcher adherence to and performance of T-CPR training requirements;
   3. 3. Provide any corrective measures or actions taken to improve the provision of OHCA protocols and T-CPR instructions; and

   4. 4. Include defined metrics being used to assess quality assurance of T-CPR, such as:

      1. (i) The total number of recognizable OHCAs;
      2. (ii) The median time interval between 911 call connect and OHCA recognition; and
      3. (iii) The median time interval between 911 call connect and the first telecommunicator directed compressions.
   5. (b) By April 1 of each year, each ECD shall submit a copy of the current T-CPR quality assurance program and a report to the TECB on the results of the program from the previous calendar year.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 7-86-205 and 7-86-306(a)(1). Administrative History: New rule filed June 2, 2021; effective August 31, 2021.