According to the Federal Communications Commission’s 16th Annual 911 Fee Report, the state of Kansas received approximately 1.6 million 911 voice calls in 2024. Telecommunication Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, referred to as T-CPR or dispatcher-assisted CPR, is a life-saving process in which emergency medical dispatchers provide real-time CPR instructions over the phone to bystanders during an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) while waiting for emergency medical services (EMS) to arrive.
When someone experiences a sudden OHCA, immediate action can double or triple their chance of survival. T-CPR guides dispatchers through CPR instructions with untrained callers to take action, helping keep the victim’s heart and brain alive until EMS arrive to provide advanced care.
T-CPR Process
When a 911 call is placed for a person who may be experiencing OHCA, the call is routed to a public safety answering point (PSAP), which may then be handled by the initial PSAP emergency medical dispatcher or transferred to a secondary PSAP. The dispatcher begins by asking specific questions to assess the situation and determine whether CPR is needed.
Dispatchers are trained to recognize signs of cardiac arrest, such as unresponsiveness and abnormal or absent breathing, based on the caller’s responses. If cardiac arrest is suspected, the dispatcher provides clear, step-by-step instructions over the phone, guiding the caller through hands-only CPR or traditional CPR, depending on the situation. The American Heart Association (AHA) indicates that performing CPR can double or even triple a person’s chance of survival.
Throughout the T-CPR process, the dispatcher remains on the line, offering reassurance and coaching to help the bystander maintain effective and continuous chest compressions until EMS arrive. Upon arrival, EMS personnel take over with advanced life support and begin transporting the patient to a medical facility if necessary.
According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), on average, it takes approximately 7 minutes for EMS to arrive at the scene. For rural areas, an average time of 14 minutes has been reported for EMS to travel and arrive. During this critical period, T-CPR enables emergency dispatchers to provide CPR instructions over the phone to bystanders, helping to maintain vital blood flow to the heart and brain until EMS personnel arrive and begin advanced care.
T-CPR Legislation by State, 2025
T-CPR Process Challenges
The NIH has discussed how telecommunicators and bystanders can encounter several barriers during the OHCA assessment and delivery of chest compression instructions, including: agonal breathing, delayed or incomplete recognition assessment, communication gaps, caller distress, caller-patient proximity to the patient, repositioning delays, non-essential questions and assessments, and caller hesitation, refusal, or inability to act.
T-CPR History
According to the May 2019 issue of the Rhode Island Medical Journal, the first documented instance of pre-arrival instructions occurred in 1975, provided by a paramedic to a caller in Phoenix, Arizona. Although these early instructions were neither standardized nor scripted, Arizona began to implement them on a limited basis. In 1979, Utah developed the first formal Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) protocol. By 1983, these protocols—along with the requirement for dispatch-assisted CPR—became mandatory statewide in Utah. Meanwhile, in 1981, King County, Washington, launched one of the nation’s first Telephone CPR, which was also known as T-CPR. This is regarded widely as a significant milestone in the evolution of emergency medical dispatching.
Kansas Legislation
2024 HR 6037
House Resolution 6037 was adopted in February 2024 to recognize February as American Heart Month and support efforts to raise awareness on the rise of cardiovascular disease as the world’s leading cause of death and disability. As stated in the resolution, more than 350,000 individuals experience a OHCA annually in the United States, with an average survival rate of approximately 10 percent. The resolution stated about 70 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home and highlights approximately 23,000 children under the age of 18 experience OHCA each year. Nearly 40 percent of those cardiac arrests are related to sports activities.
2025 Senate Bill 11
On January 15, 2025, SB 11 was introduced, which would require the State 911 Board to establish requirements for 911 telecommunicators to receive training and continuous education in T-CPR. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Utilities.
T-CPR Legislation in Other States
As of September 2025, 24 states have implemented legislation or statewide mandates requiring emergency medical dispatchers to be trained in T-CPR. Maine and Wyoming have considered legislation regarding requiring dispatchers to be trained in T-CPR, but neither has implemented any law or mandate.
State Implementation Challenges
According to the AHA, there are several system barriers that can delay the implementation of T-CPR programs, including PSAP chartered or perceived scope of practice, organizational culture, fear of liability, public relations concerns, and budget constraints.
T-CPR Training and Program Funding
Funding for T-CPR training and programs for dispatchers in states that have implemented legislation or statewide mandates comes from a mix of federal and state-level grants, public safety fees, and private organization support.
By Kate Smeltzer and Luke Drury.
See Infrastructure and Security for more.
You must be logged in to post a comment.