u/ADeeW_

I’m looking for some honest input from other 911 Dispatchers because I’m struggling to figure out if this is just the reality of the profession or if my center is an outlier.

I hit my one year anniversary back in June. When I was hired, the expectation was that I’d be fully trained within a year. Instead, after a year, I have call taking and only one dispatch position completed out of five. I didn’t even start training on my first dispatch position until May and was released in June. The delays aren’t because people don’t want to learn they’re because we’re so short staffed that training constantly takes a back seat to just keeping the floor covered.
The staffing situation has become exhausting. Mandatory overtime is the norm. I’ve worked over 100 hours of OT already, and I know coworkers who’ve worked well over 150. It feels like every schedule comes with the expectation that someone is getting tagged.
Our scheduling is chaotic. We have multiple shift rotations with holes everywhere, so even before someone calls in, we’re already running at minimum staffing. One call-in can throw the whole shift into survival mode.

The Fourth of July really highlighted it. We all know it’s one of the busiest holidays of the year, but it still felt like we weren’t prepared from a staffing standpoint. We spent the day trying to keep our heads above water.
The chronic understaffing has created so much negativity in the center that morale just keeps getting worse. Everyone is tired. Everyone is frustrated. Everyone wonders if they’re going to get tagged again. That negativity has honestly started affecting me, too. I feel like I can handle the work itself, but being surrounded by constant negativity has made me start doubting myself.

My first year on the phones wasn’t easy. I handled calls involving a suicide, a homicide, and what started as a missing person that ultimately became a death investigation. Like every new telecommunicator, I had a lot to learn, but those calls stay with you. Ironically, the issue that ultimately got me in trouble wasn’t one of those calls it was my tone and or rushing someone off the phone in a couple of occasions. After everything that happened during my first year, I received disciplinary action because my tone came across poorly on those calls. That was hard to accept because I had spent the year trying to improve while dealing with some incredibly difficult situations. At the same time, I also received a citizen compliment for my call taking, a peer-to-peer compliment, was nominated for a positivity award for bringing positivity to the center. Also receiving a Lifesaver Award. All that being said is big part of why this has been so confusing. I don’t think I’m a perfect telecommunicator far from it not even fully trained and learning everyday but it’s hard to reconcile receiving positive recognition while also feeling like I’m constantly questioning whether I’m cut out for this job.

One thing that’s really started to bother me is how attendance policies affect the people who consistently show up. To be clear, I’m not talking about people who legitimately need FMLA or protected leave. Those protections absolutely matter. What I’m talking about is that it feels like recurring attendance issues have become accepted because, as long as someone follows the policy, there’s very little that changes. People can call in for up to two days without a doctor’s note, and if they have enough sick leave, it often seems like there’s little accountability for repeated call-ins. Over time, people start expecting certain employees to call in on days they’re scheduled for full shifts on the phones because it’s happened so often. Whether that’s perception or reality, it has become part of the culture, and it’s terrible for morale because everyone knows the workload is just going to fall on whoever did show up.
Meanwhile, I almost never call in. After everything that happened during my first year, I finally reached my breaking point. I had a complete mental breakdown, went to my doctor, and seriously considered quitting. I submitted my doctor’s note one day late and received a verbal warning because of it.

I understand policies are policies, but it was incredibly discouraging. I spent an entire year showing up, signing up for overtime, working mandatory overtime, rarely calling in, and doing everything I could to help keep the center running. The one time I genuinely wasn’t okay, I still ended up with a verbal warning. It honestly felt like I worked my ass off all year just to get the short end of the stick.

The frustrating part is that I actually love this job. I love helping people. I enjoy dispatching, and I want to make this career work. So I’m genuinely asking those of you who’ve been doing this for a while:

Is this normal?

Are most centers dealing with this level of understaffing, mandatory overtime, delayed training, and declining morale? Does it get better, or is this simply the reality of emergency communications?

Because right now, it feels like the system is burning out the people who keep showing up, and I’m trying to figure out if this is what I should expect for the rest of my career. Or I get out before I waist anymore time.

Second write up within a year. Just like most centers, we are very shortstaffed and morale is down tremendously. people are hired but even more people quit. Everyone says writeups come frequent in your first year, but I’m just on edge all the time feeling like maybe this isn’t for me or maybe I’m in over my head! I have been stuck on call taking for the year and I’m finally getting move forward to learn dispatch. I started fire training and my first day where I’m already overwhelmed because I’m overloaded with fire training. I was presented with my second write up at end of shift. That write up was from call taking. My manager had a conversation with me about a call where she heard me rushing someone off the phone and I admitted it it wasn’t the best way to close the call, but they just kept talking and standard wrap up wasn’t working. I have been working on my tone which is why I was written up 5 months ago since then the radio silence which they say no news is good news. But then she wrote me up two weeks later using my words I confined in her against me. There’s more to the anger I feel but it’s just so toxic in the center.

I have been with my center about a year, it will be a year in June. In that time I have only worked as a call taker. Our center like so many is short staffed, we get some hired but then lose just as many. With all of that and changes training has been a slower process, what was to be 1 year to be fully trained has been more which I don’t mind it has been a learning experience for sure.

But with all of that this will be my first time now on a RADIO. My center breaks down each position, I will be starting with Fire. Any advice, tips or encouraging words would be greatly appreciated. This is my first time as a dispatcher for any line of work. I had years of different call taking experience so that was I think easier for me no walk in the park by any means but seem to catch on quick. I’m worried this will be a challenging hurdle for sure. Also concerned about listening or hearing what needs to be heard.