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 pro who shows up, every shift, every day, in all the ways that matter.

Let’s dial in our target subject with a bit more clarity.

If:

• You train newbies and truly care about the process in ways that others can see and feel, even though it will likely never end

OR

• You supervise a shift which is understaffed, leaving you deployed to the floor AND supervising at the same time – but you still bring all that you have for your people every day

OR

• You have no title, but show up every day with your nose to the figurative grindstone while being a solid coworker and colleague to your beleaguered workmates who need you

I’m talking about YOU.

Hell, I’m raving about you.

You veteran dispatchers who keep on keepin’ on, doing stellar work AND serving as great teammates, choosing to avoid the lure of the dark side which would see you become non communicative asshats who fill a seat and make everyone around you miserable – and you know exactly what that looks like, because you work with some of them (fodder for another blog).

Know this: You are worth your weight in gold.

Author’s note: Please present this article to decision makers in your comm center as evidence to help facilitate your much-deserved raise.

Where would this industry be without our “silent majority?”

Make no mistake — that’s exactly what long-time dispatchers who face up to the demands of the job with skill, perseverance and a can-do mindset represent.

It’s who you are and it’s what you bring, and you most often do what you do without any fanfare whatsoever.

When 911 veterans set the tone, the culture thrives – and while some of us busy ourselves talking about all the things that we need to upgrade and improve or the handful of problem employees who seem to take up all our time, you keep quietly doing the things that make you – and the people within your sphere of influence – phenomenal.

Think about the power of extraordinary veteran dispatchers who do the following (and the dramatic impact it has on the people working the consoles):

• Always bring uplifting energy to the shift
• Approach challenges with optimism and grace
• Create a supportive and encouraging atmosphere
• Demonstrate a cheerful and solution-oriented outlook
• Maintain a consistently upbeat demeanor
• Infuse the workplace with enthusiasm and warmth
• Show resilience and positivity, even under pressure
• Lead by example – title or not – with a positive and proactive spirit

If you are working in a 911 communications center, you know the power of long-timers who check these boxes.

If you are one of these folks, you probably have to be told that you are, because to you, this isn’t anything special – it’s just who you are and how you roll.

I remember, at about year five at the console, often feeling like the whole enterprise was a hopeless slog, that we would never be fully staffed or not work 55-hour weeks. I would often find myself getting down just thinking about going to work, knowing how futile it all seemed.

It was extraordinary veterans who had done it a lot longer than I had who picked me up during those moments. Every shift. They kept me on the right path, made me laugh, complemented my work and drew me into fascinating conversations (some of which were even appropriate for the workplace). In so doing, they kept me focused on the bigger picture and taught me, by modeling the behavior themselves, that next-level resilience was both necessary and possible.

I can say with complete certainty that I wouldn’t be sitting here on the other side of a long career in a comm center, still fully immersed in the 911 industry and its people, were it not for those veteran dispatchers who continued to be so much more than they honestly had any right to be.

So, to YOU, the veteran dispatcher who is making a difference every shift, every day, despite the years and the difficulty of the job and all that it has demanded, I say thank you (even though your likely reaction is, ‘Thank me for what? I’m just doing what I’m supposed to.”)

Without you there, doing what you do and showing others how to do it, it simply wouldn’t get done.

The backbone of 911, made up of determined veteran dispatchers, remains steely and resolute – and we’re all made stronger by the example that you set.

Every shift, every day.

 

Kris Inman is the Director of Program Development for The Healthy Dispatcher. A 30-year veteran of 9-1-1, Kris retired in July 2023 as Director of Springfield Greene County 9-1-1 in Springfield, MO. An awarded speaker and instructor, Kris has delivered standout educational sessions, keynotes, motivational talks and yoga instruction to dispatchers across the country. He is also a long-time college adjunct instructor, teaching courses in communication and public safety leadership. Kris holds a Master of Arts in Communication and a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media from Missouri State University. He is also a registered yoga instructor.