Any Other Dispatchers

[viper911]

Just checkin if there are any other Emergency Dispatchers in the forum. Looking to find out where everybody is from and how big a department you have:D :D :D :D :D

[FireEMTGuy]

Just taking my ERD course in the comming weeks, i hope it isnt as boring as i have heard...

Sat/Sun two 12 hour days! :o :(

[911Guy]

Just got hired with Victoria as an Alarm Room Dispatcher...they want to take the Fire Fighters out of there and use 100% professional dispatchers in there from now on.

[Rescue78]

Originally posted by 911Guy
Just got hired with Victoria as an Alarm Room Dispatcher...they want to take the Fire Fighters out of there and use 100% professional dispatchers in there from now on.

That's the way it should be.

Congrats on your new job.

[bestcoast]

We were quite happy having our own guy's dispatch us. It was FF's dispatching FF's and it ran very well. A senior dispatcher with the rank of captain ran the show with 3 FF call taker's. We lost our dispatch to ECOMM a few years back and now are dispatched by civilian's. There have been some growing pains but it is getting better. The major difference has been that when we dispatched ourselves, the guy's in dispatch were out of suppression and knew exactly what goes on at fire scenes and what is required in the early stages of an incident. They also had a better knowledge of the city streets and when and where to move apparatus. The one benefit is the technology today is better and we can communicate easier with other FD's and emergency agencies through ECOMM....BC...

[Rescue78]

Our communication technicians are employed by the department. They are part of the bargaining unit, they used to be assigned to a crew so you would always have the same ones. With the 24 hr shift however, they obviously can't have the same shift so we are now working with all of them.

They can be real quick at giving cross streets, hydrant location etc. Our guys hated the dispatch shifts when we used to cover for them in case of sickness. Now there is enough of them.

Hats off to the job you do. It is not an easy one. A good comm. tech does make a heck of a difference. Keep up the good work.

[911Guy]

Thanks guys. Just a few words of clarification:

All the new dispatch hires in Victoria have experience dispatching elsewhere, police, ambulance, PSAP, etc. We are members of the IAFF local and are not considered civillians by the department...which kinda shocked me coming from police another story in itself). We work the same shift pattern as the FF's and are assigned to a group.

I'm excited at the opportunity and look forward to taking care of my guys when I send them out!

[bestcoast]

First of all 911Guy, congrats on the new job and welcome aboard. The dispatcher's we have at ECOMM are all CUPE Union employees I believe. Most of them have previous dispatch experience in their background be it police, EHS, etc... The fire service is a little different. In Vancouver as i'm sure it is in every dept. across Canada we almost have our own Language. Before they started dispatching us they went on ride along's in some of the busier halls in the city to see how thing's ran and try to figure out some of the "term's and phrases" we use on a daily basis. And no that doesn't include all the F Bomb's. It did help them get a better handle on what to expect. Like i said previously it hasn't been a totally smooth transition but it takes time to learn how thing's are done......BC.....

[polobear911]

First time posting in here. I'm a dispatcher in Prince Rupert, BC. We are 4 full time CUPE dispatchers. Some of us used to work for the RCMP detachment. But a year ago they decided that 911 was not an RCMP service, so they punted us down to the firehall. (their loss)... We are still learning about fire fighting and their specific requirements from dispatch but have heard nothing but great comments from the fire fighters. I'd be really interested in talking to other dispatchers to see how their departments work.

polobear161@hotmail.com

[FireChef]

My wife is going to be starting her "Emergency Communications Operator" aka Dispatcher program on Oct. 17 at Malaspina University - College in Nanaimo. It is the second time the course has been offered. The last class had 10 people and 8 of them now have full - time jobs either here in Nanaimo or in Victoria and the other 2 didn't really care about the program. The job prospects out there sound pretty good.

[codeymac]

hi guys im just looking in to Emergency Fire Dispatch Certification. And i just wanna know alittle about if any one has any tips. It would be sweet to know what im going in to for 3days ha thanks alot mac

[wearitwell]

i actually do fire/medical dispatch along with firefighting in a industrial setting, i actually enjoy the dispatching, trying to find a 911 course to take in ontario but hard to find.

[VolFirie]

I've only ever worked with 'civilian' dispatchers - and we have some terrific ones too! They'r all good, but some are 'better'. :)

Proper training is sooo important! I've had a few really good laughs at the expense of dispatchers. Like the time a firecall was radiod in from a fire station and the operator asked if they were mobile at the time... And the firecall from a fire tower which got the same response - are you mobile? For the second one, I'm sure that the poor woman had never been told about fire towers (they aren't part of our fire service), she was very confused. Not their fault if they aren't trained properly!

One of the issues that operators can't be trained for is different accents. We're getting more and more different accents now, even a couple of North American ones creeping in! And from our side, employing someone for that job who has a very different accent to ours - that was difficult until he became more confidant, more experienced and picked up more 'Aussie-isms"!

[dentedhead]

i actually do fire/medical dispatch along with firefighting in a industrial setting, i actually enjoy the dispatching, trying to find a 911 course to take in ontario but hard to find.

Most community colleges that have the paramedic course also offer it.I thought Niagara had it (or did at one time) and Im sure Humber still offers it.

Dentedhead

[wearitwell]

Most community colleges that have the paramedic course also offer it.I thought Niagara had it (or did at one time) and Im sure Humber still offers it.

Dentedhead


hmm havent found anything in niagara, but someone said this place on the service road in hamilton offers it along with a paramedic course just cant seem to find it.

[dentedhead]

hmm havent found anything in niagara, but someone said this place on the service road in hamilton offers it along with a paramedic course just cant seem to find it.

I think that may be CTS or ATS or sumpin like that, they have a couple of campuses around Ont,the other is in Barrie I think.

Dentedhead

[Fire97]

Wearitwell- Mokawk College offers a course, not too sure what it is called but do know alot of people are getting jobs out of the course, also if you have access to the Ontario fire college through work they have a pretty decent communicators course aswell, I think it is a two or three day course and it ussually runs in the spring. All of our dispatchers with the exception of two are firefighters with our dept. I think it is benifical because the people dispatching have an idea what actually goes on at the scene and can problem solve before the trucks reach the incident. We are about to hire four new dispatchers part-time out of our volly crew.

[Javan]

Im going to Humber college in September for the Emergency Telacom. program. Its 4months i think. And they help you find a job after. Pretty good deal i would have to say. Its $1500+$500 for books.

[Kath40]

The OFC communicators course is only for those who are already hired by a department. It doesn't teach anything operationally, but is more of a 3 day symposium for fire communicators.