Emergency Dispatchers

Emergency Dispatches & Telecommunicators
A Unique Class of First Responders

Those managing law enforcement, fire, emergency services and security career programs at the secondary and post secondary increasingly view specialized, national certification programs as valuable additions to their more general career programs. Emergency dispatch jobs provide a well-paid career option for the high school graduate and often a way to meet college tuition needs.

The National Partnership for Careers in Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security has partnered with the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch, Association of Public Safety Communications Officers (APCO) and SAVE Corp. to provide a full range of options for starting such career programs. Although there are other alternatives for supporting dispatcher certification programs, the National Partnership has found these two sources as excellent supports. They serve high school and college course, certification and equipment needs and have developed expertise in providing start-up assistance.

The Roles of the Partnership

We created the emergency dispatcher program among: The National Partnership for Careers in Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security, APCO, National Academies of Emergency Dispatch and SAVE for two primary reasons:

1. To help secondary and post-secondary schools start and maintain a viable emergency dispatcher certification program, based on national standards, and complete with instructor and student materials and manuals, equipment and examples of successful programs, and

2. To create a cadre of instructors at the secondary and post-secondary levels from which trainers of trainers can be developed.

The partnership realizes that there are a number of options available to prepare students to be nationally certified, emergency dispatchers. However, to our knowledge no integrated effort with a variety of options, exists that focuses on creating and improving high school and college certification programs.

The partnership has created this website, and its links, to serve as the base for building and improving emergency dispatcher certification programs.

Partner Roles & Websites

The National Partnership for Careers in Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security
Originated and coordinates the partnership and provides technical support and advice for integrating the certification program with academic standards and placing it within a larger public safety career program.

The National Academies of Emergency Dispatch and APCO
-- Developed and provide the instructor and student manuals for the Emergency Dispatcher Courses (see individual pages for differences), provide the national certification to successful students upon submission of the required application and documentation, offer the instructor certification courses and maintain a code of ethics for all emergency dispatchers.

SAVE
-- Provides the equipment that allows the use of real life situations that dispatchers have to deal with and the actual technology that they will have to understand and use. On-site training on the use of the equipment is provided when purchasing or leasing the equipment.

Benefits of the Emergency Dispatcher Certification Program

Benefits of in-school, emergency dispatcher, certification programs accrue to three groups. They are:

The students who:

• Receive a nationally recognized certification for successful program completion
• Learn if they are suited for emergency dispatch work and if they like the work
• Receive real life simulated experiences using actual equipment in the classroom
• Experience a variety of learning experiences at the local 9-1-1 centers that partner with the in-school programs

The schools and instructors who:

• Receive a nationally recognized instructor certification for successful completion of the instructor certification program
• Can integrate academic standards into the students’ emergency dispatch course, as the ability to communicate is paramount for the job.
• Can integrate the career cluster abilities into the course—active listening, problem solving, stress management, computer skills, etc
• Offer the students a concrete opportunity to enter a well paying, career oriented job upon graduating from high school

The partnering police, fire and EMS emergency dispatch organizations who:

• Learn who the students are whom they may want to hire upon graduation,
• Gain new hires who are ready to begin work, require minimum training and are likely to find the work attractive
• Have an opportunity to support meaningful education program in their community
• Reduce or eliminate the need to invest in new hire training.

Irrespective of who you choose to use to help start an emergency dispatcher certification program, you will find the information here a good benchmark to help judge other programs, materials and equipment.

Requirements of professionals in public safety and security fields continue to become more complex and technologically demanding. At the same time, many of these career fields offer both monetarily rewarding and good career progression opportunities within a specific career field or to related career areas. Emergency dispatchers, also called telecommunicators, certainly fall into both these categories. Modern 9-1-1 centers are dependent upon sophisticated technology and information systems. This means that dispatchers now need professional training and certification. Entry-level, dispatcher position salaries typically exceed $20,000.

Fast Facts:

• The US has over 6100 emergency call centers
• There are an estimated 200 million 9-1-1 calls per year
• There are approximately 100,000 dispatchers
• Dispatcher recruitment estimate: 10,000 per year

For more facts: National Emergency Number Association

Dispatch Centers or 9-1-1 call centers come in all sizes and have either a single or multipurpose function although the trend is for multipurpose centers. This latter type of center handles police, emergency medical and fire services. Some examples of the two types can be accessed from the following links:

Maine:
Sommerset County Communications Center

Maryland:
Baltimore City Fire Department Communications Bureau

Louisiana:
Caddo Parrish Communications Center http://caddo911.com

Wisconsin:
Dane County Public Safety Communications http://www.co.dane.wi.us/communicationscenter/index.html

Texas:
Harris County Emergency Communications Center

New Mexico:
McKinley County Metropolitan Dispatch Authority

California:
Verdugo Fire Communications Center

Rhode Island:
Westerly Emergency Dispatch Center

Most dispatcher positions can be entered upon graduation from high school. Many find that they have found their niche in life and make dispatching their career choice. Others use dispatcher positions to help fund college and stay connected with a public safety organization with the goal of obtaining another career position in the public safety organization or other career area. In fact, a number of law enforcement organizations use dispatcher positions to encourage high school graduates to stay with the department until they reach the age of 21 when they become eligible to become a law enforcement officer; however, many more graduates view dispatching as a desirable long-term career.

Saleries

Bureau of Labor Statistics Summaries

A Dispatcher, Entry Level Salary Sampling:

Salary per year, City

$31,000 Arlington, VA

$34,000 Santa Rosa, CA

$33,400 Portland, OR

$22,000 Osage Beach, MO

$29,000 Anne Arundel, MD

$33,600 Palm Springs, CA

$20,500 Auburn, IN

$26,400 Keller, TX