What background and/or skillset best ensures success in a 911 career? Who, specifically, are we looking for? Those are million-dollar questions, aren’t they? If we had the power to do so, could we literally create a perfect candidate — one who is ideally positioned for consistent success in our field? Everyone has ideas on this,…
Let’s take a breather from the “What we need to fix/How we need to improve/Why we need to grow” narrative for a beat, shall we? Let’s instead take a few minutes to unabashedly celebrate YOU, the veteran 911 dispatcher — the ass-kicking, cop-corralling, phone jockeying, new employee-herding backbone of your comm center. The true 911…
Of the many truths that have revealed themselves about 911 during my 30 years in the industry, one certainty stands unchanged: No one from the outside is going to swoop in, fully recognize who we are and what we do, and take care of us in the way that we deserve. The fact that it’s…
“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place, and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t how…
I’m here to suggest that it’s perfectly ok to be ridiculous about nothing. You have my express, written permission to be peculiar. All the little peccadillos that you shamefully hide or meekly defend may now see the light of day, unfettered by the cruel derision of better adjusted friends and colleagues. From this day forward,…
What if I told you that allowing yourself to be more vulnerable is the key to long-term mental health in your 911 career? To be clear: I fully realize what I’m suggesting and to whom I am talking. We are literally taught to compartmentalize and essentially deny how we feel to master the difficulties of…
