911:: Staffing, Professionalism, Back-to-basics ( was Venting)

[Guest guest]

> In a message dated 8/27/00 11:04:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

> heimdalcmo@... writes:

>> Would letting the local and national media know the staffing problems

>> of dispatchers help. It might let people know about the job and lure

>> new people in.

>> Tammy <<

>

> Tammy - I'm currently a member of an APCO Task Force studying

> this problem.

> One of our initial projects was to gather data on the subject,

> because up until now, all anyone had was a collection of

> " war stories " on centers who were shorthanded. The next

> step is going to be putting this and future data into a

> form that can be validated and used as ammunition in our

> fight. It is our assumption that in terms of salary -- and

> staffing -- we need to benchmark against the labor market

> as a whole and not against ourselves.

Amen. It's in the broad market that we compete for workers.

I completed and sent in the survey I received... and it's now

worthless. We were fully staffed when I mailed it, thanks to a

new trainee... who found a job with better pay, better hours,

and better benefits in her second week of training. As of the

middle of Sep, we'll be down to 60% of authorized personnel.

Guess I'll do the on-line survey, too... But how valid is the

data collected on-line? Can APCO defend it?

> Also, sometime down the line, anticipate a hard look at

> how many folks it really takes to adequately staff. Many

> of the formulae used are decades old, and probably need

> revision in today's multitasking world. The survey results

> should be up on the APCO web site. ...

Definitely need newer ways to calculate and document our

needs... but it's going to be complicated. How much is new

technology helping? How much it it increasing workload?

It's great. Download digitilized photos of wanted persons

along with the hit... or upload photos of our wanted folks.

Computerized fingerprints... take, upload, download, confirm,

distribute... Most of that requires that a dispatcher do the

routing and much of the work.

But there are still centers using cards and a time clock that

need valid data.

> ... And, yes, we do need to advertise better than we do!

> And sooner! You can also contact APCO for a recruitment

> brochure that can be customized for local use. ...

?? How about putting it on the web site in a .pdf, .wpd, or

..doc format? Guess I'll have to grumble at Steve Souder

since he's right next door. Besides, I haven't visited the

Arlington center in a while.

> Again, to anyone who solves this problem, please send me a

> bottle. No, make that a case!

If only we could bottle it. But professionalism won't fit through

the narrow neck... or even a wide mouth mason jar. But ...

BACK TO BASICS:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few on the list have taken CPR, first aid, or EMT classes.

Pull out your text. Chapter 1. " The Chain of Survival. " It's

accepted by almost everyone. Link 1 - Citizen recognized

than an emergency exists.

LINK 2 - DIAL 9-1-1 (or local emergency number) AND

COMMUNICATE...

Further down, you'll find that " the chain is only as strong as

its weakest link. " Cut it out. Paste it up. Make copies

Post it on the bathroom wall so the Chief will see it.

Tammy, the media are interested only when the system

crashes or when things go wrong. Last week, DC dispatchers

were in the news again because an ambulance was sent to the

wrong address. Radio & TV stations played the tape... full of

static... that the dispatcher had to make out in a noisy room

full of other call takers. And the dispatcher sent the ambulance

to the right block. Why didn't the ambulance crew ask more

questions? Why didn't... Oops, I getting as bad as a reporter.

But less than two years ago, the DC dispatch system crashed.

Staffing was so short that non-emergency lines weren't

answered for over 30 minutes and citizens began dialing 9-1-1

for everything. When citizens started getting a recording

when trying to report real emergencies, they complained to

the 'consumer advocate' types at the TV stations. The better

news programs just reported the facts. A couple, however,

had to dial 9-1-1 and then play the recording over the air.

Within days, Mayor Tony announced immediate pay

raises for DC dispatchers, an immediate recruiting drive,

and plans for a new communications center.

After the latest incident, ambulance sent to wrong address,

the story was dropped by most outlets. As far as I can find,

only one all news radio station did a good followup, pointing

out problems with working conditions and saying that DC

dispatchers will move into their new center around Oct 1.

Any DC folks here? I want to see it. Communications isn't

DC's weakest link any more but they're still hiring.

I hope APCO members in DC will write HQs about their

experiences. Barry, how about a 'self check' for depart-

ments? How to gauge the health of your communications

center. Higher pay, better environment, and new equipment

helped DC. So did adverse media attention. Hmmm. I bet

most departments and the politians in the jurisdictions

would like to avoid bad publicity... even more than they

want to serve their constituancy, unfortunately. A bad

route to a good destination?

Dana, how are you doing over at Fairfax County? I know

something's wrong. I'm getting dozens of calls a night. " I

tried to call Fairfax County but all I get is a recording and

I listened to it repeat for xx minutes and no one answered.

I'm really in Falls Church, just the Fairfax County part of it.

Can't you help me? " Sorry. Call them back and wait longer.

And, Barry, how about a treatise on how to ruin a good

center? I know of one in the area that's in the process of

self-destructing from inside. Several of their dispatchers

are applying for jobs in Falls Church as a significant pay

cut to get out. They say that there's a new sworn admin

sergeant who isn't sure what his job it, so he listens in on

as many calls as possible and to all the radio traffic so he

can write up several reprimands a day... even though he has

never worked a console and couldn't if he tried. And he may

have to learn... soon. His staff is leaving. I was told that

over half of his dispatchers have put in applications at

other centers in the area. The rest have too much time in

to leave and are just holding on until they can retire.

My conclusions? You all know the answers. To solving the

staffing problems, we _NEED_:

1. Competitive pay and benefits.

2. A reasonably good working environment.

3. Appreciation of the job and its requirements

4. Good supervision and leadership

We have families, dreams, ambitions, and needs. Without a

decent wage, we can't afford to do what we love... because

dispatching won't be number one on most people's list of the

things that they love. I have kids in college and another will

soon be on her way. The house needs paint, the car needs

oil, and ... I need to pay for all of that.

Many of us work in dungeons, dark, damp basements with a

dehumidifier humming in the background, the thermostat in

the chief's office so it's always too hot or too cold, duct tape

holding the armpads on the chair and more tape protects me

from the sharp edges of the broken console table. Since the

department buys the bandages and new trousers, I don't com-

plain about cutting my leg twice a week on sharp projections

from the drop-down keyboard trays. Not too bad. I've seen

worse. What I complain about it when the computer it taken

down in a panic, when the radio system crashes and I have

to dispatch with a portable, when tropo-ducting makes the

signals from a department in Pennsylvania stronger than the

signals from my officers' portables. Give us the tools that we

need to do the job. If it's too hot, we'll get a fan. Too cold?

Sweater or sweatshirt (Hey, Ken. Where's mine?) But we

need reliable radio and telephone systems and the means to

get them fixed when they break. That's a good working

environment, physically. Duct tape will take care of the rest.

Appreciation might be better termed 'mental and emotional

environment.' A 'feeling of self-worth' is critical. Criticism

has to be constructive and reinforcing. The military uses

the terms 'morale' amd 'esprit de corps' (look 'em up in your

Funk & Wagnall). When you feel good about yourself, the

words of the most abusive callers just make you smile and

increase your patience. 'Water off the ducks back. Be a

duck.' But destroy a center's morale and esprit, and the

same person will be irritated, snappy, stomach grumbling,

head aching... Sick leave goes up, productivity goes down.

Guess what? All of the above depend on good leaders and

supervisors. Leaders who recognize that a chain is only as

strong as the weakest link, who recognize that communications

is essential to the operation, who put people first, who care.

Leaders are proactive. Leaders improve environments because

workers are more productive. Leaders update equipment to

better serve their constituancy, the citizens, and to help us

become more productive and, therefore, better serve... Any

idiot can put his finger in the dike when it starts to leak. It's

sad to hear how many centers are lead by people who are

just plugging leaks rather than reinforcing the dike and

planning a new one.

I'm half done. Bear with me...

Dispatchers are PROFESIONAL. Pull down the Webster's, at

least a collegiate or, better, an unabbridged. Some argue that

we need higher education and a set of nation-wide standards.

Profession - 3. a vocation or occupation requiring advanced

training in some liberal art or science, and usually involving

mental rather than manual work, as teaching, engineering,

writing, etc.; especially medicine, law, or theology (formerly

called 'the learned professions)

OK, so some want high standards of education. Does anyone

work for a college educated idiot? Did I write that? Oops. But

don't put Webster's down.

Profession - 4. the body of persons in a particular calling or

ocupation.

Keep reading. It gets even better...

Professional - adj. 1. of, engaged in, or worthy of the

high standards of, a profession. 4. engaged in a specified

occupation for pay or as a means of livelihood: as a

'professional writer.' 5. having much experience and great

skill in a specified role... (from Webster's New Collegiate)

So you and I are already professional and are therefore,

professionals. Like other professionals, we continue to

learn, to further our eduation, to lift building so we can

walk under them, to kick locomotives off tracks, and to

talk to God... and everybody else with a phone or $.35.

The problem seems to be getting others to recognize our

professionalism. So I propose lots of self-promotion. I do

it continuously. The APCO poster, 'Keystone of Public Safety'

found a frame. It hangs on the door to our little center so

everyone who enters sees it. (By the way, APCO folks, let's

put a couple of law enforcement types in there next time.)

You folks who go out into the community to teach are doing

it. We have teenagers doing 'sit-alongs' on career day and

I hope one or two will be back to collect a paycheck some

day. Louis just pointed out that this

works! Not always. Just one. Just one who will make it

thru training and stay long enough that I can get a vacation

next year. <deep sigh>

Do you know your Public information Officer? For the city,

county, center, etc.? If not, why not? Most like to have

things to send out, especially on the slow/no-news days,

especially if a complete and professional release is handed

to them. And what do they want? Anything. Everything.

" Dispatch center notes an increase in bicycle thefts. In

the past three months, more bicycles were reported

stolen than in the two previous years. The....

" MOST 9-1-1 CALLS ARE NOT EMERGENCIES, notes the director

of the communications center. " Over two-thirds of the

9-1-1 calls that we receive are routine requests for infor-

mation or calls about an event that is already over. " The

director pointed out that non-emergency numbers are

listed in the BLUE pages in the middle of the phone ...

Newspapers love having a file full of fillers. And the PIO

and administrative Captain likes dealing with the media

in a positive way. He's stuck dealing with them when things

go wrong. What needs to be said where you work and live?

" Participation in Neighborhood Watch is down. " " The Falls

Church Police Association is selling t-shirt to support the

Special Olympics. If you can't get to city hall during the

day, the dispatch center sells them at night and on week-

ends. " And, for me, the public contact is good whether I

am so busy that the citizens have to wait a bit or I can dig

into the box for a child's 'small' right away.

Promote yourself, your profession. You are _NOT_ " just " a

dispatcher. You and I are the keystones of public safety,

<dramatic drum roll> an essential link in the chain of

survival, well trained, courteous, professional.

Calls occur randomly... all at the same time.

R J 'Tree' Greenwood

doctree@... or tree.greenwood@...

doctree@... on 911 Console

Falls Church City & Fauquier County, VA

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