I dispatch fire trucks and ambulances.
I have no background in dispatching, as a firefighter, or as an EMT.
Spent most of my working days at the Eastman Kodak Company. And for nearly ten years, in the legal department, as an employment law paralegal.
Training as a Fire Dispatcher was not simple. I do not know statistics regarding other emrgency communication departments. Not about call volume. Not about the number of agencies dispatched. My county, to me anyway, is quite large.
Not long after becoming certified as a dispatcher I was working a channel. The people in the Fire Pod --what we call the area at 9-1-1 designated for fire dispatchers-- talked about places they'd like to visit when taking time off from work.
A job came in. Automatic fire alarm. One responsibility is to dispatch the right fire equipment, based on the assignment. For this, an alarm, one unit is sent. The next part of the job is to listen to the unit size-up a situation as they arrive on scene, repeat the size-up back to them over the radio, and then document it on the job card. Sometimes that's easy. Many times easier said than done.
I dispatched Engine 12. Engine 12 arrived on scene. My radio crackled. I heard: "Engine twelve on scene. Nothing showing from a two-and-a-half-story. On investigation."
Sounded simple. They said it. I repeat it, type it, and it goes as record on the job.
I depressed the broadcast footpedal. Positioned the mike close to my lips. "Engine twelve, you're on scene. Nothing showing from a two-and-a-half-story. Engine twelve, you're on vacation."
Oh yeah. It's what I said. Close. So close ... but, not close enough. Not at all.
I'd heard it. I know Engine 12 heard it.
Did I try and fix it over the air? Ignore it, like it never happened?
Ignore it. That's what I decided. That's what I did.
I slowly spun around in my chair, away from the monitors, and keyboards that made up my workstation. The other four dispatchers in the Pod stared at me. One said, "Dude, did you just tell Engine twelve they were on vacation?"
"What?" I said. I shook my head. "Me? Tell Engine twelve they were on vacation ..." I changed the shake to a nod. "Ah yeah. I did."
The laughing eventually subsided. Some. Well --it lasted longer than it should have. But it did subside.
Dispatching is one of the toughest jobs I've ever done. One of the best jobs I've ever had. Paying attention will always be key.
Suffice it to say, lesson learned. Do not humilate yourself on the air. Ever. Sound like you know what you're talking about and people might listen. Say something totally wrong --and rest assured, everyone will be listening.
--Phil Tomasso
Fire/EMS Dispatcher