Dispatch in Depth

Danissa Alston, Montgomery County Maryland 9-1-1 Communication Center’s staff social worker, discusses how mental health and body health are connected and what you can do today to reduce your stress levels. 

For Your Information: 

Find a therapist in your area (you can narrow your search by criteria like gender, race, or specialty): https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists  

Find a therapist who uses EMDR: https://www.emdria.org/  

Ariana Kitty, Operations Manager for Northwest Central Dispatch System (NWCDS), and Robin Chamberlain, QA independent contractor with PDC, discuss the skill of active listening, including what you can do to improve it and why it’s so crucial. 

For Your Information: 

Effects of NG911 on dispatcher health: https://www.aedrjournal.org/next-generation-9-1-1-media-your-telecommunicators-mental-health  

NWCDS website: https://www.nwcds.org/  

Mehrabian’s Communication Model: https://worldofwork.io/2019/07/mehrabians-7-38-55-communication-model/  

For the podcast's 100th episode, Ty Wooten, the IAED’s Director of Governmental Affairs, discusses the 911 Tree of Life, a project developed to recognize remarkable 911 telecommunicators and the difference they make every day in their communities. He talks about why it was a priority to the organizations who created it and what events warrant adding a leaf (spoiler alert, it’s not just the big calls). 

For Your Information: 

Add a leaf to the 911 Tree of Life (it doesn’t have to be a save): https://911treeoflife.org/  

Stephan Bunker, an expert witness with over 50 years of public safety experience, discusses the key ways to avoid litigation and liability in emergency dispatch, including tips for individual dispatchers as well as center managers. 

For Your Information: 

Email Stephan your questions at stephan(dot)bunker(at)gmail(dot)com 

If you’re attending NAVIGATOR 2022, don’t miss his session “Fire Up Your Dispatchers” on April 28!

Erin Eaton, Operations Manager, and Jeb Lyons, Operations Manager, at Northwest Central Dispatch System (NWCDS) discuss their center’s fire specialist team, including how it started, what it’s accomplished, and how to put your own together. 

For Your Information: 

Learn more about Northwest Central Dispatch System: https://www.nwcds.org/  

Rabbi Cary Friedman, Associate Director of the Law Enforcement Survival Institute and consultant to the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, discusses the role of spirituality in first response, including how to refill your depleted reservoirs.  

 

For Your Information: 

Cary’s books:

Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement https://spiritualsurvivalbook.com/  

Wisdom from the Batcave https://batwisdom.com/

The Superhero Handbook for Cops 

Write your own credo: https://chaplainusa.org/the-credo-project  

copsalive.com 

lawenforcementsurvivalinstitute.org 

Tim Russow, Quality Assurance Specialist with Ada County Sheriff’s Office, discusses quality assurance and feedback in emergency dispatch, including why it’s important and how to improve it. 

For Your Information: 

Ada County Sheriff’s Office: https://adacounty.id.gov/sheriff/ 

More about Professor Bruce Ballenger and writing resources for nonfiction, personal essay, and research: https://bruceballenger.com/ 

Andrew Palmer, manager of instructional design at IAED, discusses emergency dispatch training, including where to start improving your own programs and what kind of training works best for this field.

For Your Information: 

What is action mapping? https://blog.cathy-moore.com/action-mapping-a-visual-approach-to-training-design/ 

Log in to the Learning Portal: https://academy.emergencydispatch.org/

Julie Buckingham, Telecommunicator Program Director at RQI Partners, discusses telecommunicator CPR, including new research about learning and comprehension, the importance of contextual training in the dispatch center, and how call simulations can improve skills. 

For Your Information: 

RQI Partners website: https://rqipartners.com/solutions/prehospital-solutions/rqi-telecommunicator/  

Learn more about the American Heart Association’s TCPR guidelines: https://cpr.heart.org/en/resuscitation-science/telecommunicator-cpr

Mike Thompson, a Fire Protocol, Academics and Standards Expert with the IAED’s Academics, Research, and Standards Division, discusses protocol accommodations for callers with disabilities, specifically for fire calls. He explains what accommodations exist and the events that prompted them. 

 

For Your Information: 

Learn more about the Fire Priority Dispatch System: https://www.emergencydispatch.org/what-we-do/emergency-priority-dispatch-system/fire-protocol  

Learn more about Proposals for Change: https://www.emergencydispatch.org/what-we-do/proposal-for-change  

Check out the National Fire Protection Association’s resources for people with disabilities: https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Specific-groups-at-risk/People-with-disabilities