911 Dispatcher Stress Threatens Public Safety Systems

For my next non-fiction book, 911 Dispatchers Are More Than You Might Imagine, I have been doing research on the various forms of job-related stress to which 911 Dispatchers are routinely subjected. Having been an FDNY dispatcher in Brooklyn during a very busy time in the city’s history in terms of fires, I thought I had a full appreciation of dispatcher stress. As a result of the research I have been doing, I have recently developed the insight that I had no idea of the stressors that were at work on me while they were happening. I had some idea, sure. I was tired but I couldn’t sleep. I was irritable at times for no apparent reason. My social life was seriously constrained by my rotating shift schedule. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Researchers are known to use the word intersection when talking about the effects of two forces on a person. ?Intersection of Poverty and Family History of Diabetes, for example. Honestly, I could not describe any intersection that completely captured the stress forces at work on the 911 Dispatcher. It was more like a vortex, with the 911 Dispatcher in the center.

That research, plus conversations I have had with thousands of 911 Dispatchers and, maybe more importantly, former 911 Dispatchers, over fifty years and two dozen states, has led me to some concerning conclusions. Here’s an excerpt from the book:

“These systems cannot work without 911 Dispatchers and 911 Dispatchers cannot work for any substantial number of years without some significant improvements in their working lives. Unless Public Safety leaders and local political leaders take steps to enhance the professional lives of 911 Dispatchers, there is an increasing likelihood that the seasoned 911 Dispatchers, who have been exposed to the most stress over time, who are the kind who might have potential to be supervisors, managers and directors down the road, who would be models supporting your future recruitment efforts, will become an endangered species. Failing to take care of seasoned 911 Dispatchers weakens your future leadership which, in turn, weakens future recruitment and retention.”

I am aware of current vacancy rates in PSAP’s around the country and hope that that would spur some improvement in working conditions, including salaries, schedules and status. These three have been consistently identified by 911 Dispatchers over the decades as areas in need of improvement.

I hope to have the book finished by the end of the year and plan to share more excerpts with you from time to time.