NextGenTelecommunicator: Forging a career path in the Emergency Communications Profession
A little over a week ago, I had the honor and privilege of delivering the keynote address at the Massachusetts State 9–1–1 Department’s 46th Commencement Ceremony, held at the Massachusetts State Police Headquarters in Framingham. Thirty-one telecommunicators from seven different public safety answering points across the Commonwealth were in attendance for the graduation proceedings. Family members of the graduate candidates and leadership from many of the agencies represented were also present for the ceremony.
When I was asked to speak, I immediately began thinking about what words of wisdom, if any, I could pass on to this newly minted class of 9–1–1 professionals. I thought back to February 2003, when I began my emergency communications career in Rochester, New York as a Dispatcher I, having only my volunteer firefighter and shared volunteer/career EMT experience to look back on as a means of understanding the occupation I’d just jumped into. While I admit my time serving in these two capacities helped me to a certain degree when it came to acclimating to my newly chosen profession, the unique nature of the position and the great deal of responsibility associated with it wouldn’t be obvious to me for some time to come.
I entered the 9–1–1 field with no intentions of starting a career. Like many joining the profession at that time, and I’m sure today as well, I saw emergency communications as simply a stepping stone into a neighboring public safety discipline. For me, my profession of choice (aka dream job) was firefighting, having spent a considerable amount of time in the volunteer fire service with a busy suburban fire district. Years earlier, in an attempt to improve my odds of being hired by a career fire department, I enrolled in a Fire Science Associates Degree program at our local community college. Even with my efforts at the academic level, and competitive scores on several firefighting civil service exams, my dreams of becoming a career firefighter were never realized.
Routinely in the 9–1–1 community, we hear newly appointed members of our profession say they joined our ranks for reasons similar to mine. With aspirations of becoming firefighters, police officers, or paramedics, people from all walks of life take the 9–1–1 exam, complete the necessary training, become certified, and spend years becoming proficient at a job they initially had no intention of keeping. While I understand their motivation, having done the same thing for the same reasons, as someone who has grown to be just as passionate about the 9–1–1 profession, I’d like to see the roles reversed. No I don’t believe we’ll see candidates taking police and fire exams with the intention of leap-frogging into a 9–1–1 career (at least not anytime soon), however I do believe getting the word out about the importance of the emergency communications profession, both to newly appointed personnel and prospective team members, is vital to ensuring its ongoing success.
Those working in law enforcement, fire, and ems are highly visible to the public with their work being very well known. Some might suggest the significance of the 9–1–1 role is just as well known across the country, making further promotion of the profession unnecessary. Where I concur with that belief to some degree, I’d argue the public’s knowledge of 9–1–1 is limited (for the most part) to the dialing of those three individual numbers. This way of thinking brought me to the first of three talking points I’d chosen to include in my address to the 9–1–1 academy graduates. I explained that as leaders in the emergency communications space, we don’t do enough to convey the importance of the telecommunicator’s role relative to the overall safety of a given community. Immediately thereafter, I reinforced to all of the newly appointed telecommunicators how vitally important their positions are, commending them on their decision to join our profession, while encouraging them to learn as much as possible about their new line of work.
My presentation went on to address the importance of professional development and continuing education. Yes, the emergency communications profession is chock full of work related ongoing educational requirements, a fact these graduates were well aware of, however I wanted to be sure our new colleagues knew about some of the industry specific educational programs available to them. We talked about APCO’s Registered Public Safety Leader (RPL) and Certified Public-Safety Executive (CPE) programs, as well as NENA’s Emergency Number Professional (ENP) and Center Manager Certification Program (CMCP). Communications specific undergraduate and graduate studies were also mentioned in my address. Advancements in wireless communications, the evolution of Next Generation 9–1–1 and FirstNet, and a solid understanding of emerging technologies will require those seeking to move up within our craft to be more proficient and knowledgeable in a variety of different areas. Finally, I advised those in attendance not to wait for an invitation from their employer to participate in non-required training and instruction. Seek out learning opportunities and ask to participate in educational sessions and work related instructional offerings. My mission with this line of dialogue; to ensure these new communications professionals understood career growth is possible in this fast paced and rewarding public safety profession. Initiative (and being a ‘squeaky wheel’) doesn’t hurt either.
My third and final topic of the day was stress. I could have easily spent the entire address on this known problem in our profession, but wanting to end on a positive note, I purposely kept my thoughts and feelings on the topic limited to two specific areas: recognizing work related stress in oneself and recognizing signs of stress in others. Like many who have chosen pubic safety as a profession, a large number of 9–1–1 professionals are quintessential Type A personalities. In sum and substance, we are usually the last to recognize signs of stress in ourselves and the last to ask for assistance in dealing with work related stress on a personal level. This unfortunately is a recipe for disaster, especially in the 9–1–1 profession. I asked everyone in the room who’d be answering an emergency call in the weeks ahead to do a bit of soul searching, swallow their pride, and not be afraid or ashamed of seeking assistance following a bad call or series of calls. My message, as indicated above, wasn’t limited to the individual alone. I asked those same people to keep an eye on their co-workers, with a special emphasis on those who’d been fortunate enough to forge a relationship over the course of the last five weeks in the dispatcher academy. Many of us in this line of work can remember who was in our initial dispatch training class, and we remain very close with those individuals as our careers in the profession evolve. Its those relationships we rely on when times get tough, and those individuals who many times help us power through the incident and make it back to the console the next day. In a profession where we’re taught to constantly care for the needs and welfare of others, we often forget that caring for ourselves and our colleagues is of equal importance. I wanted this class of graduates to understand the importance of watching out for themselves and one another from day one.
I ask this question of all the Directors, Police Chiefs, Fire Chiefs, Sheriffs, and other Communications Leaders out there; do your team members understand how important they are to the public safety picture in your community? Have you told your newest staff members how critical their role is relative to assisting those in need, or do you assume they already know? What about your veteran employees? When was the last time you reached out and had a conversation with one of them. Nothing formal, just a casual sit down? How often does the media in your town recognize the efforts of your telecommunicators? How often do you recognize their efforts?
If we expect to retain our existing personnel and attract new personnel, we must create an environment which promotes our work for what it is; a vital part of the public safety equation. We must build a culture, much like that of the fire department, law enforcement, and emergency medical services. If we want prospective candidates to take our exams, participate in our background checks, deal with months of stressful training, and work nights, weekends, and holidays for the better part of their career, success will be contingent on avoiding a complacent attitude towards leadership and assuring the overall satisfaction level of our biggest promoters: our team members.
DJD
