During the 2022 Regular Legislative Session, HB414 was introduced. Part of this bill mandated that the Alabama 9-1-1 Board establish a certification program to train and certify public safety telecommunicators (PST) employed by primary Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Following passage by the House and Senate, HB414 was signed into law by Governor Ivey on April 14, 2022 becoming Act 22-387. In the latter half of 2022, Board staff began implementation of its Certification Program. An administrative rule-making occurred and resulted in Rule 585-X-5, Public Safety Telecommunicator Certification Program becoming effective in mid-October 2022.
Also during this timeframe, Board staff worked to gather data from its 85 Emergency Communication Districts (ECDs) and the primary PSAPs within each of those ECDs. Through these efforts, nearly 1,600 PSTs have been identified as employed by primary PSAPs and in need of certification according to the Code of Alabama, 1975, as amended. The Alabama 9-1-1 Board Public Safety Telecommunicator Program officially launched on January 3, 2023.
Enrollment & Forms:
An initial requirement of the program is that every PST employed by a primary PSAP must be enrolled in Virtual Academy.
We have implemented a new process for PST reporting, replacing the previous method of submitting DocuWare forms. All PST-related tasks can now be managed through the Alabama 911 Board Central (ABC) app. The following tasks will now be handled exclusively through the app: adding or removing PSTs from your roster, uploading certifications, reporting CEUs or external training (excluding Virtual Academy courses), updating PST names and emails, checking certification compliance, registering or withdrawing from Board-hosted training, viewing registrants, and much more.
You can access the new app by clicking HERE. Once you submit your new account profile request, Board staff will receive a request to approve your account. We will approve it or email you with follow-up questions. The approval is not automatic, be aware that is a manual process and can take up to two business days from request. Currently, the ABC app is available to all ECD and PSAP leadership. In October, it will be accessible to all PSTs. If you have any questions or encounter issues when creating an account, please contact us at education@al911board.com. If you missed the "Talk About It Tuesday" session on August 13, you can watch it here. The video provides detailed information and step-by-step instructions on using the app with the functions you can access, in addition to things you should and shouldn't use it for and what other processes you will no longer utilize.
Let us know if you have any questions. We are so excited about this new approach to streamline processes for you and us!
PST Certification Course Request for Payment Form - This form is to be used to request payment for a PST Certification course your agency utilized for certification of your PSTs. The cost of the course, books, etc. are eligible. You will need to upload your invoice and proof of payment, along with the roster or list of PSTs that attended the class. You may use one form for multiple people. Requests submitted by the 10th of the month are paid at the end of the month.
ALPST-1 Intent to Test Form - This form will be used by test proctors to request the Competency Exam be assigned in Virtual Academy. For more information, watch this webinar. The bulk of the content on the exam begins at minute 15:00. To help PSTs prepare for the competency exam, we have prepared a list of recommended courses in Virtual Academy. The list can be downloaded here.
CEUs
Board staff has put together a list of recommended CEUs. This list is not comprehensive but has included a large variety of opportunities for CEUs for telecommunicators. If you find a course/conference/class not listed here, please let us know so we can review and add it.
Webinars:
All webinars we have presented about the program are here.