I currently work for Springfield-Greene County Emergency Communications (911). I have worked here since November 2013, just before graduating from Missouri State. My title is “Telecommunicator”. This title encompasses many daily tasks. First, I am a fully cross trained dispatcher, which means I am trained and qualified on all positions on the floor. This training usually takes about a year to complete. On the floor we have several positions. The first position is call taker. Call takers answering incoming emergency and non-emergency lines, receive incoming information about incidents, and record the information in our Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) program. They update dispatchers of current information as well as relay information to other agencies and callers as necessary. Another position is fire dispatcher. At our center, fire dispatching is divided between the city of Springfield and the county. Greene county has 11 different fire agencies. Fire dispatchers alert fire departments of calls for service, relay information, and find additional resources as requested. A third position is police dispatching. This is divided geographically between north side, south side, and sheriff’s department, and smaller municipalities.. Police dispatchers take the information entered by call takers and dispatch available units to calls. This often involves multitasking and prioritizing to get the units to the most critical calls first. In addition, police dispatchers relay all updates to officers and also check people and items for stolen or for warrants. But perhaps the most serious part of a dispatchers job is being aware of citizen and officer safety at all times. Dispatchers are at a near constant state of readiness and are always prepared to send extra help when needed.
As for a typical day, that question is very hard to answer. No two days in dispatch are the same. A dispatcher never knows exactly what calls may come in on a given day and therefore must come into work ready to deal with anything (and everything) that might happen. This creates a feeling of brotherhood in the center. I really love being a dispatcher. This career has honed skills such as patience, grace under pressure, and brevity, that I had not developed during graduate school. This job has also integrated my coursework in emergency management, public administration, and global studies.
For more information about the Office of Emergency Management, go to their website at http://www.greenecountyoem.org/cms/.