I spent the last few days in Las Vegas at Paris Las Vegas (hotel and casino) at the Navigator conference. Navigator is probably my favorite conference, though I will admit that I have yet to attend the NENA National conference. Navigator is put on by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (formerly known as National Academies of Emergency Dispatch and formerly, formerly known as National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch).
It's a fairly typical industry conference, with conference sessions in several different learning tracks, a vendor hall, and a number of activities for conference attendees to choose from and participate in. What makes Navigator so much more interesting to me is the number of folks who attend from every level within public safety communications: line dispatchers and call takers, training officers, supervisors, managers, directors, doctors, nurses, paramedics, firefighters, police officers, public sector and private sector. There are folks from around the world at Navigator conferences: China, UK, The Netherlands, Japan, Italy, Canada, etc., etc., etc, as well as all corners of the United States.
I love conferences because of the opportunities to meet new folks, network, learn new things, pass on my own knowledge to others when I can, see products in the vendor hall (and get the free stuff), and just because it's awesome to get outside your own agency for a bit and talk to folks who do things maybe a bit differently.
16 years in, and I've only been going to conferences for about 8 years now--if I could change anything it would be to have started earlier. That said, it's hard to get out of the office--if you can't afford to go on your own dime and your agency can't (or won't) send you, you have to figure out a way to make it work. We're all busy in our own personal lives and it's hard, if not downright impossible sometimes, to get away. But if you have the chance--take it. There are some great conferences out there. Your own state chapters of NENA and APCO typically have state conferences; in Texas, APCO typically has two per year and NENA has one, though there is talk of a joint conference, which I think would be really awesome. NENA National has a yearly conference which moves from state to state in June of each year and APCO International's conferences, which also move, are in August. (Navigator being held in April is another reason I like it so much.)
Next year, Navigator is back in Baltimore--the inner harbor is really a neat place to be in April.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Ours
This is something I wrote in August 2010, following the death of one of our officers. I had the honor and sadness of performing his final call--something I hope I'll never again have to do.
Ours
I never thought I would cry on the radio like I did yesterday.
I don’t think it was bad—I think I managed to get hold of myself enough to answer the fire units we sent for medical assistance after that initial call from one of our units about a fleet, an officer down, and the words “unresponsive” and “CPR in progress”.
I was thinking today about the bigger cities where the dispatchers and the officers may never actually see one another and was so grateful to be here where we have the opportunity to see our guys and gals, talk with them, and get to know them. It makes it hard, though.
We call you our own. Each and every one of us refer to you all as, “my officers, my medics, my firefighters.” Because you are. When you’re on duty, you’re ours. And when you’re in trouble, or scared—we have the same kind of fear in our hearts that we have for our own children.
We’re not just “dispatch”, “city”, “county”, or “radio.” We have faces and names and we have emotions and hearts. And you’re not just a unit number to us. You are ours.
We want to do everything we can for you—sending you help when you need it doesn’t seem like everything to us, especially when we sit in here and keep on answering all the other calls that are still coming in; when we hear the radio traffic on your scene and don’t know how you are or what’s happening.
We have a sense of responsibility towards you, our responders. But more than that, many of us feel a sense of responsibility towards your families: your wives and husbands, boyfriends or girlfriends, your parents, and your babies. It is our responsibility, our duty, to make sure you go home to those people at the end of your shift. And if that doesn't happen, even if we know in our heads that it wasn't something we had any control over, we feel the weight of it in our hearts and in our souls. You can be a heavy burden, but is not one that we would ever willingly give up.
I’d rather have the tears than not have the opportunity to know you, no matter what may happen—even if you’re only my guys every once in a while when I sit a console in the comm. center.
To my dispatchers—thank you for sacrificing a bit of yourselves every day because of your love for this work and for your guys.
Sara E Wright, 08/19/2010
Ours
I never thought I would cry on the radio like I did yesterday.
I don’t think it was bad—I think I managed to get hold of myself enough to answer the fire units we sent for medical assistance after that initial call from one of our units about a fleet, an officer down, and the words “unresponsive” and “CPR in progress”.
I was thinking today about the bigger cities where the dispatchers and the officers may never actually see one another and was so grateful to be here where we have the opportunity to see our guys and gals, talk with them, and get to know them. It makes it hard, though.
We call you our own. Each and every one of us refer to you all as, “my officers, my medics, my firefighters.” Because you are. When you’re on duty, you’re ours. And when you’re in trouble, or scared—we have the same kind of fear in our hearts that we have for our own children.
We’re not just “dispatch”, “city”, “county”, or “radio.” We have faces and names and we have emotions and hearts. And you’re not just a unit number to us. You are ours.
We want to do everything we can for you—sending you help when you need it doesn’t seem like everything to us, especially when we sit in here and keep on answering all the other calls that are still coming in; when we hear the radio traffic on your scene and don’t know how you are or what’s happening.
We have a sense of responsibility towards you, our responders. But more than that, many of us feel a sense of responsibility towards your families: your wives and husbands, boyfriends or girlfriends, your parents, and your babies. It is our responsibility, our duty, to make sure you go home to those people at the end of your shift. And if that doesn't happen, even if we know in our heads that it wasn't something we had any control over, we feel the weight of it in our hearts and in our souls. You can be a heavy burden, but is not one that we would ever willingly give up.
I’d rather have the tears than not have the opportunity to know you, no matter what may happen—even if you’re only my guys every once in a while when I sit a console in the comm. center.
To my dispatchers—thank you for sacrificing a bit of yourselves every day because of your love for this work and for your guys.
Sara E Wright, 08/19/2010
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Aches and Pains of the Comm Center
We've all faced the aches and pains of working in the emergency communications center, whether we're on the line answering phones and radio, in the training center making sure everyone's required certifications are up to date, or in the manager's or supervisor's office making sure everything is getting done the best way.
What are your aches and pains? How do you deal with them?
I started out in the comm center at the age of 18, almost 16 years ago. I really thought I had hit the big time as I was in a fairly secure job making considerably more than minimum wage and I had this wonderful thing called health insurance. It didn't take long, though, to realize that there were so many other things, namely life, which had a way of rearing its ugly head. Even for single folks, there are conflicts with working a 12 hour schedule, working holidays and weekends, night shifts, being called in on a moment's notice, or simply dealing with difficult calls, difficult callers, and sometimes difficult responders and co-workers. If you, as a line telecommunicator, don't work out a way to handle those conflicts early on in your career, I can guarantee you that your career in public safety communications won't last that long. When you're married or have children, the conflicts with your job can multiply and sometimes seem too large to handle.
I promoted to a supervisory position about 4 years into my career in the comm center. The conflicts I already had didn't change and a whole new batch of conflicts were added into the mix. As a supervisor, especially if you are promoted from within your current agency, one of the new conflicts you face is simply the transition from telecommunicator to supervisor. Often, especially in public safety communications, our folks aren't given training on that transition, and sometimes, those that are great telecommunicators don't make great supervisors or don't have the opportunity to become great supervisors without that training. Other challenges faced by communications supervisors include handling the change in relationship between yourself and former co-workers who are now your subordinates, making sure the schedule has enough folks in the center 24/7/365, and making sure that your center's policies and procedures are being followed. You also have different contacts with your external and internal customers than you did as a dispatcher or calltaker. You're the one that folks come talk to when they're unhappy with the way one of your employees handled a situation.
As a trainer or training coordinator for a 9-1-1 center, you're the one who has to make sure that everyone in your center is completing the required training. Training is not "one size fits all" in the center, either. Every state has different minimum requirements in addition to the federal requirements (CJIS, NCIC, TDD, etc.) and every individual center has agency specific training requirements. That's a lot to keep up with, because you have to keep it all straight while still working under the scheduling and overtime restraints. What dispatcher wants to give up a day off to attend a training class? I'll tell you there aren't many. And if you've sat through NCIC and NLETS training, you know it can be pretty boring. Unfortunately, we have all had the phone call about "that" employee who came late to training, fell asleep in class, was rude to the instructor or other students, or otherwise caused you to reach for the bottle of Tums.
Good grief, what sane person would want to work in a public safety communications center? Hmmm...Okay, we've all heard it: "You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps."
I'll ask again: How do you handle the aches and pains?
Here are some of my tips:
Find a mentor. Join NENA or APCO. Read the publications. Go to state and national conferences, at least once, even if you have to do it on your own dime and your time. Don't be shy--find someone you can respect and seek their input and help with your career and your experience.
Don't be afraid to talk to a professional--outside the industry. By this I mean, use your Employee Assistance Program and don't be afraid to talk to a therapist or counselor from time to time about your experiences in the comm center and at home. I can't tell you how much it can help you. Don't let a single bad experience with one person stop you from "shopping around" to find someone else.
Have friends outside of public safety. If you eat, breathe, and sleep public safety, eventually you'll have nothing left outside of it.
You've probably heard this from the beginning, too: Leave your work stuff at work and your home stuff at home. It's not easy and you won't always be completely successful. Nothing worthwhile is easy and negative stress really does cause you to get physically and mentally sick if it goes on too long.
Seek out training relative to what you would like to do in your public safety communications career. Again, if your agency won't send you, sometimes you have do it on your own. If you really want this career and if you really want to be successful, it's important.
Now it's your turn. Leave a comment and tell me what problems you've faced and how you've handled them. Forward this blog to others in your center. I'd really like to see a lot of open and honest discussion on this.
Have an idea for the next post? Let me know that, too.
Thanks for reading and don't forget that you're never alone.
What are your aches and pains? How do you deal with them?
I started out in the comm center at the age of 18, almost 16 years ago. I really thought I had hit the big time as I was in a fairly secure job making considerably more than minimum wage and I had this wonderful thing called health insurance. It didn't take long, though, to realize that there were so many other things, namely life, which had a way of rearing its ugly head. Even for single folks, there are conflicts with working a 12 hour schedule, working holidays and weekends, night shifts, being called in on a moment's notice, or simply dealing with difficult calls, difficult callers, and sometimes difficult responders and co-workers. If you, as a line telecommunicator, don't work out a way to handle those conflicts early on in your career, I can guarantee you that your career in public safety communications won't last that long. When you're married or have children, the conflicts with your job can multiply and sometimes seem too large to handle.
I promoted to a supervisory position about 4 years into my career in the comm center. The conflicts I already had didn't change and a whole new batch of conflicts were added into the mix. As a supervisor, especially if you are promoted from within your current agency, one of the new conflicts you face is simply the transition from telecommunicator to supervisor. Often, especially in public safety communications, our folks aren't given training on that transition, and sometimes, those that are great telecommunicators don't make great supervisors or don't have the opportunity to become great supervisors without that training. Other challenges faced by communications supervisors include handling the change in relationship between yourself and former co-workers who are now your subordinates, making sure the schedule has enough folks in the center 24/7/365, and making sure that your center's policies and procedures are being followed. You also have different contacts with your external and internal customers than you did as a dispatcher or calltaker. You're the one that folks come talk to when they're unhappy with the way one of your employees handled a situation.
As a trainer or training coordinator for a 9-1-1 center, you're the one who has to make sure that everyone in your center is completing the required training. Training is not "one size fits all" in the center, either. Every state has different minimum requirements in addition to the federal requirements (CJIS, NCIC, TDD, etc.) and every individual center has agency specific training requirements. That's a lot to keep up with, because you have to keep it all straight while still working under the scheduling and overtime restraints. What dispatcher wants to give up a day off to attend a training class? I'll tell you there aren't many. And if you've sat through NCIC and NLETS training, you know it can be pretty boring. Unfortunately, we have all had the phone call about "that" employee who came late to training, fell asleep in class, was rude to the instructor or other students, or otherwise caused you to reach for the bottle of Tums.
Good grief, what sane person would want to work in a public safety communications center? Hmmm...Okay, we've all heard it: "You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps."
I'll ask again: How do you handle the aches and pains?
Here are some of my tips:
Find a mentor. Join NENA or APCO. Read the publications. Go to state and national conferences, at least once, even if you have to do it on your own dime and your time. Don't be shy--find someone you can respect and seek their input and help with your career and your experience.
Don't be afraid to talk to a professional--outside the industry. By this I mean, use your Employee Assistance Program and don't be afraid to talk to a therapist or counselor from time to time about your experiences in the comm center and at home. I can't tell you how much it can help you. Don't let a single bad experience with one person stop you from "shopping around" to find someone else.
Have friends outside of public safety. If you eat, breathe, and sleep public safety, eventually you'll have nothing left outside of it.
You've probably heard this from the beginning, too: Leave your work stuff at work and your home stuff at home. It's not easy and you won't always be completely successful. Nothing worthwhile is easy and negative stress really does cause you to get physically and mentally sick if it goes on too long.
Seek out training relative to what you would like to do in your public safety communications career. Again, if your agency won't send you, sometimes you have do it on your own. If you really want this career and if you really want to be successful, it's important.
Now it's your turn. Leave a comment and tell me what problems you've faced and how you've handled them. Forward this blog to others in your center. I'd really like to see a lot of open and honest discussion on this.
Have an idea for the next post? Let me know that, too.
Thanks for reading and don't forget that you're never alone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
