Fire Dispatchers

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Permalink Reply by P.J. Norwood on November 29, 2008 at 10:26pm

Jeff, First a coupls of questions;

Are all of the dispatchers civilian or uniformed?
Is your center on neutral ground or housed in a police station?
What type of formalized training do all of the dispatchers recieve?
Is everyone cross trained and actaully move from one to another or do they stay put?
Who is the Communications Manager/supervisor (title doesn't matter it does however tell allot)

One thing that is not uncommon is your sitaution. If you look at the time a Poloice Officer communicates with their dispatcher during their tour VS the amount of time that a Firefighter communicates to their dispatcher throught their tour.

The more you communicate the greater the bond.

An added factor is most police dispatchers recieve formalized training. Where as most fire dispatchers will recieve in house training only. There by making the police work the focus.

Another trend I see is the focus of the dispatcher. Many combined communications centers are housed in the police department. This unfortunately makes the police officers and police work the primary focus. Also the Police officers have access to the center and tend to "hang around" and become friendly when the FF's don't always have this luxury.

Depending on where your center is housed and who is in charge also has a big impact on the focus of the center.

On the bright side you are not alone and experience the same fustration that many communicators do.

Stay Safe

P.J.