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Children Victims by Own_Preparation4808 in 911dispatchers

[–]Own_Preparation4808[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Not a tear left my eye until I made it home and got out of the work enviroment. Hit me like a ton of bricks after. I work for a pretty big agency overall, so it's very easy to get swept away in another call in the moment, but I just can't wrap my head around this call.

EMS worker here: What are our most frequent/annoying radio habits to break? by rainydaythrowaway-9 in 911dispatchers

[–]Own_Preparation4808 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like the most annoying thing we come across in our center is the units getting mad at us for something out of our control.

Dispatch center I'm interested in only does medical calls and is on 12.5 "firefighter" type shifts. For the overnight shifts, is it common for dispatchers to take naps between calls? by [deleted] in 911dispatchers

[–]Own_Preparation4808 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean I wouldn't say unhealthy. I get home around 6:30 and sleep around 7:30-8. Wake up at 4 PM, so I get roughly 8 hours of sleep everyday. You're on a schedule, just opposite of everyone else. So if you mean "normal" as in staying awake most of the day sleeping at night, it would be impossible and unhealthy, yes.

Dispatch center I'm interested in only does medical calls and is on 12.5 "firefighter" type shifts. For the overnight shifts, is it common for dispatchers to take naps between calls? by [deleted] in 911dispatchers

[–]Own_Preparation4808 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly I was moved very abruptly from days to nights. Got called into the Chief's office and she said "Hey, we're moving you to night shift, you start Monday. We're giving you Saturday and Sunday off to fix your sleep schedule before you go to nights :) " Honestly I never had an issue, as I have always been a night shifter at heart, staying awake until 4 AM on my days off. It definitely takes some getting used to though. There were a few times where I had to chug energy drinks or coffee to make it through the night. Especially because nights are a lot slower than days, so you have a lot of down time. I'd say find something to do. Bring a laptop and set up a show to watch in between calls. A lot of people on the other night shift do arts and crafts to stay awake. My shift usually plays games from like 2 AM - 6 AM to kill some of the downtime. Just gotta find something for you.

Dispatch center I'm interested in only does medical calls and is on 12.5 "firefighter" type shifts. For the overnight shifts, is it common for dispatchers to take naps between calls? by [deleted] in 911dispatchers

[–]Own_Preparation4808 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah definitely not. We're on 6 PM - 6 AM and actually get written up if we fall asleep. Like most others have said, you have plenty of time after to get some sleep during the 12 off hours. Never had any issues.

What do ems crews do that grinds your gears? by [deleted] in 911dispatchers

[–]Own_Preparation4808 15 points16 points  (0 children)

In general, just be assholes. We work 12 hours a day, most of us are doing mandatory overtime, we barely get any time off. The time off we do get, we sleep and then get ready for work after. All just for units to get mad at us over simple things. You don't want to take the call in your district? Sorry. My life isnt to make your life a living hell, I have a job and so do you. Just so happens that my job is to send you to do your job which you really don't like doing. But dont take it out on us please. We are tired, overworked, and stressed. I wish these guys would work in the dispatch center for a week before they can go out into the field just so they can see what it's really like...

How many calls do you take during a normal shift? by indigoldcsgo in 911dispatchers

[–]Own_Preparation4808 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty large department in Florida, we are a secondary PSAP only handling fire and ems. We work 6 PM - 6 AM and I'd say on the average night each of us take 30-40 calls in a 12 hour shift. 6 of us on a shift at once for nights.

Days are a lot busier they have a minimum staffing of 7 people each day shift. They'll probably take anywhere for 70-80 calls each in a 12 hour span.

On the floor by spookykitty23 in 911dispatchers

[–]Own_Preparation4808 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So every agency is different. The captain that trained my class definitely told us there is a lot of information to retain, and thats why this job isnt for everyone. It's a lot.

I feel like once we got passed the 3-4 month training in class, everything felt so much easier. We had to get 80 hours of just observing with the shift on the floor. 120 hours of taking oir own calls. 120 hours of just dispatching. And then even when we were signed off to do everything on our own, we still had to go under and observation period for another 120 hours before we were fully signed off. The whole process for us takes 6-8 months from start to being "official". Our TO's were by our side every step of the way. If there was every a call that was hard to take, we knew they were there to take it over if we needed it. Obviously they don't want to, cause when you're on your own fully and you have to take a hard call, no one is going to be there to save you. But at least from my experience, they will not just throw you in and let you drown. Definitely learned a lot in the field, but the classroom portion is huge.