"What's in a name?" -Juliet

Shakespeare’s timeless quote from “Romeo and Juliet” still rings true today. 

Five years ago, a group of 9-1-1 professionals met in Washington D.C. to develop the initial National Minimum Training Guidelines for persons who answer a 9-1-1 call. Even then, there was much consternation over the name “telecommunicator”. Should it be Public Safety Telecommunicator? Emergency Dispatcher? Public Safety Emergency Telecommunicator? Call Taker? 

By definition, a “Name” is a word or group of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is known, addressed, or referred to. By federal definition, the professionals that save lives thousands of times each day are ‘clerical workers’. Would a clerical worker “by any other name smell just as sweet”? Try using that term in the Communications Center today and you will quickly feel the not-so-sweet glares from your teammates. Truly, the names by which we are known by are important.

But let us set aside the Telecommunicator nomenclature for the moment. At NENA's Standards and Best Practices Conference (Jan 2018), we discussed the name of our workspace. The answers were varied and interesting. Any entity that is responsible for receiving 9-1-1 calls and processing those calls according to a specific operational policy is, by industry definition, a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). However, when we present ourselves to the public or policy makers, we commonly use terms such as Emergency Communications Center or 9-1-1 Center that are easily identifiable for the public. 

However, none of these terms actually represents the broad spectrum of functions that we perform. As we look ahead toward the next OMB reclassification window, we must bear in mind that the reclassification issue is about the work performed and not about an emotional sway. While the receiving and processing of 9-1-1 calls is a singular function we do, it may not be the singular descriptor of who we are. 

While the receiving and processing of 9-1-1 calls is a singular function we do, it may not be the singular descriptor of who we are. 

When asked to list some of the common functions that a telecommunicator performs, the following items surfaced:

• § 9-1-1 call receiving and processing
• § Voice Centric incident receiving and processing (other than 9-1-1)
• § Non-voice centric incident receiving and processing (alarms, telematics, sensors, etc.)
• § Responder initiated incident receiving and processing
• § Radio Communications
• § Administrative call receiving and processing
• § Pre-arrival medical treatment via protocol
• § Records Management
• § Resource Management
• § NCIC query, entry, and validation
• § Community Emergency Notification (IPAWS, etc.)
• § Incident-based geospatial data processing
• § Quality Assurance and Improvement
• § Emergency Management

These time-intensive items are just a sampling of the common functions performed within the four walls that contain the telecommunicator.  As the public’s expectation of emergency services grows and evolves, our job requirements must also grow and evolve. Just imagine what items could be added by the next OMB review of the telecommunicator job function! What if our ‘name’ adapted to highlight the necessary role we serve in public safety?

In truth, we are the Central Nervous System of emergency response. Whether your agency performs one, two, or all the functions above, you are an integral part of public safety in North America. Maybe a more explanatory name will help OMB understand the job functions we perform. Perhaps we attempt to arrive at some consensus that whether you perform the singular function of a PSAP, or multiples of the functions listed above, our four walls all must share a common nomenclature. Whatever our story may be in the future, I am confident our voices will all share the same pen-name: NENA.  

• This reprint is from "The Call", the quarterly magazine of the National Emergency Number Association: Peevyhouse, J. (October, 2018). What's in a Name? www.nena.org/page/TheCallMagazine.