Today I attended a Power Point training on how to handle NON-EMERGENCY CALLS. Yes, they actually required us to attend this training! I was amazed that they were able to find enough material on this subject to fill 6 1/2 hours. Thirty individuals from various police, fire and dispatch centers (8 from our COMM center) came to our facility to listen, learn and share their experiences in dealing with John Q. Public. Let me tell you, what could have been a real boring session, turned into a very interesting and humorous learning environment! Several of the films that the instructor brought with her were hilarious!(Pardon me maam, you said you're locked "inside" your car?) The main focus of the training was to bring us to a positive place, thinking of the caller as "the customer" and delivering exceptional "customer service". The roles of the dispatchers in the room varied from one person dispatch for a PD, to COMM centers full of dispatchers who handle mostly emergency calls and transfer non-emergency calls, to FD firefighters who dispatch when needed, etc. There were several people who had taken the job of dispatcher with a PD to get their foot in the door because they wanted to be an police officer. I'm not sure if they really wanted to be there at first, but I'm glad they came. When they do get to be officers, they will be able to relate to the other side of the mike! There sure was a lot of experience sitting in that room. 15 years, 12 years, 10 years on the job, some just starting out with only 3 months under their belts. It was a good mix. Most of the workbook contained material that I had already seen/heard in other trainings but I did come out of the class with some useful information. Everyone had something to share, a funny story (open mikes, mute buttons that didn't work, unusual calls). Overall, I think it's good to get together with others in the field, as a reminder that we all share a common experience, a common bond. Now if we can just get some training for John Q. Public!
I have alot of respect for the job you do. I get really irritated when I hear officers get nasty or short with dispatchers, if they understood how stressfull the job is I think they would have a deeper respect for what you do.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kojak! We work with alot of people here at the COMM center,and over the radio/phones. Most are genuinely nice people. For me, it's good to remember that we all deal with stress in different ways and even the best of us, on both sides of the mike, can have a rough day. I liked the way the training was focused on re-inforcing the positives... too easy to fall victim to the negatives in our jobs. Thanks for the comment!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like it actually would be interesting with the right instructor. It's nice to get together and train with people from other agencies too, that doesn't happen a lot here. Ideas, ideas! I like sharing all of that experience-nothing is ever textbook and hearing different ways of handling things would be great.
ReplyDeleteYou're right KV, the instructor can make or break the whole training. One of my earlier trainings for EMD was given by a vetran dispatcher/fire fighter who spent the entire training reminiscing about the "old days" (great stories, but not relevant to the class). We had to travel two hours a day for five days to attend this training. I and my fellow students read the training material on breaks and after class. We all passed, but I have to admit it, we could have stayed at home and done the same thing.
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me of days of teacher inservice. Sometimes we got good information, sometimes we graded papers while some instructor bored us, and sometimes we were as bad as our students giving the instructor a difficult time. It pays to be interesting and well informed.
ReplyDeleteLou... absolutely! I always wondered what went on during teacher "in service" days!
ReplyDelete