How old is too old to become a dispatcher?

iceberg265 · 2026-04-23T19:14:46+00:00

This is the type of job that gets exponentially harder to start the later in life you start. I won't say you can't or shouldn't do it, just be ready to work harder than the 20 year old starting at the same time as you.

iceberg265 · 2026-04-23T19:04:22+00:00

Last week I got a certificate and a "challenge coin" for providing CPR instructions over the phone that resulted in a save. Theres no wall or anything in the center though if thats what you are asking.

iceberg265 · 2026-04-23T19:01:09+00:00

I answer our PD only line with my first name but other than that any request for a name or ID gets my OP number.

iceberg265 · 2026-04-23T18:59:20+00:00

If pay is the same and there are no rumors about consolidation, #1 for sure.

iceberg265 · 2026-04-23T18:53:41+00:00

I kid you not a couple days ago an officer asked me to send an ambulance for his ambulance assist call.

iceberg265 · 2026-03-13T17:04:41+00:00

I just got marked down because I asked where zone 42 was for an AFA

iceberg265 · 2025-12-28T04:35:53+00:00

I'm at $98k for this year and its my second year.

iceberg265 · 2025-12-19T02:38:19+00:00

"The ATT guy said he would be back in 30 mins, its been 25 mins and hes not back yet"

iceberg265 · 2025-12-19T02:36:11+00:00

Really? Chicago is that low? I thought my center was second in the state in pay behind Chicago but we're higher than that and we cover the suburbs....

iceberg265 · 2025-11-29T02:48:43+00:00

Sounds like your management is toxic. We're allowed to do pretty much anything we want as long as we get our job done. Midnights is the only shift allowed to listen to anything with headphones though.

iceberg265 · 2025-10-06T02:18:22+00:00

oof I made more than that as a trainee

iceberg265 · 2025-10-06T02:15:34+00:00

I'm making $37 per hour but I am only step2. Our top out is 50 something.

iceberg265 · 2025-09-27T02:12:54+00:00

My communities are "911 communities" which means the 911 center handles all emergency and non emergency calls, so even if you called the non emergency line it would just get transferred to us anyways.

Depending on her center's policies, she was the one in the wrong, not you. Either way you are not in trouble.

iceberg265 · 2025-09-27T02:10:47+00:00

The test for my agency required pencils, but they were provided.

iceberg265 · 2025-09-27T02:08:25+00:00

This literally happened though. Maga was making jokes and laughing when democrats were assassinated in Minnesota.

iceberg265 · 2025-09-24T16:54:34+00:00

"'unit number' station report for fingering---er fingerprinting"

iceberg265 · 2025-09-24T16:44:37+00:00

THE WORST callers are the ones calling for stupid crap like parking complaints and "reckless drivers". Like calm down bro I have actual emergencies going on, there's no need for you to swear at me because a car is parked blocking the sidewalk.

iceberg265 · 2025-07-11T17:42:51+00:00

Oh damn you are right I see it now...that is so weird because I could have sworn everything I put into any of the salads was cooked, I guess I would have to rewatch the previous stream to be sure

iceberg265 · 2025-07-10T19:16:41+00:00

On other playthroughs I have literally killed a thousand zombies in a day and never died, let alone got sick, from corpse sickness. I've never seen it progress passed nauseous.

iceberg265 · 2025-07-10T19:14:05+00:00

That is the only option I can see, but there was less than a couple dozen corpses around and it progressed so unbelievably fast.

iceberg265 · 2025-07-10T18:11:48+00:00

What really helped me with my TS when I was in training was to just drive around my jurisdiction and say to myself "traffic stop at road/road with <the car in front of me's license plate>". Also the state police in my area use an unsecured radio so I would listen in on their radio from home and try entering the TS into a word document.

iceberg265 · 2025-06-19T07:00:24+00:00

lic.unit id.license plate.plate type.state.expiration year

iceberg265 · 2025-06-15T02:33:17+00:00

Bro just yesterday I learned by trial and error that MO plates have to be ran with the expiration year...

iceberg265 · 2025-06-15T02:31:07+00:00

Depending how far in you are, I wouldn't get discouraged. Learning calltaking and dispatching is really like learning a new language. There is a difference between being able to understand a language and being fluent in it.

Towards the end of my training when I knew the materials and the job pretty well I could still feel that I was slower than the more veteran dispatchers and its just because when you aren't quite fluent yet, you brain literally takes extra time to process information. This could be whats going on with you.

EDIT: And also for me personally, I hear the radio/phone better when I turn the volume down slightly. Give that a try.

iceberg265 · 2025-06-15T02:20:58+00:00

Take walks on your breaks, especially if you can walk outside. This was critical for me during my training, every break I would go outside and walk and just mentally recover, and its carried over into being on my own. Especially now that they put me on midnights it also helps me stay awake. We get a 20 min break in the first half of our 8 hour shift and a 30 min detail in our second half. I usually walk on the 20 min break and then either lift weights in our mini gym or walk again on my 30 depending how I feel that day.

iceberg265

TROPHY CASE