Across the United States, Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) are understaffed. PSAPs are the crucial call centers where operators receive 911 calls and route them to the appropriate emergency service personnel—such as police departments, fire departments, or emergency medical services (EMS). Although staffing is a perennial problem for PSAPs, COVID-19 has further exacerbated the issue and put already overburdened staff under increasing amounts of stress.
At a time when more people are seeking work/life balance and positive mental health, it’s easy to surmise that many PSAP call-takers and dispatchers may be leaving the industry for jobs that are better paid, have nicer schedules, or that don’t require the stressful daily navigation of traumatic events… READ MORE
After more than four years of standing vacant, all city buildings at the Blossom Hill site are occupied, Brecksville officials announced.
Because there are rules about who can rent the buildings — lessees have to be 501(c)(3) nonprofits or municipal or governmental entities — Service Director Ron Weidig told council’s finance committee the city had been unable to find suitable tenants.
“We’ve taken people through over the years but never had anyone actually interested,” Weidig said…
A Wisconsin bill co-authored by Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-Clinton, will create a Geographical Information System (GIS) grant program to help counties with upgrades they need to deploy Next-Generation 911 (NG 911).
Assembly Bill 708/Senate Bill 673 assists counties with the costs of some of the prerequisites for NG-911, such as data preparation, data gathering, data creation, GIS staffing, and collection contracts and training. This is the type of GIS preparation that counties will need to accomplish to meet the technical requirements to deploy NG 911…
SOUTH BEND — The executive director of St. Joseph County’s combined 911 dispatch center will step down at the end of the month, the county announced Thursday, after a four-year run that was largely dominated by efforts to get the center on track after a rocky start less than a decade ago.
Ray Schultz, a former assistant fire chief in Mishawaka, took over operations at the consolidated “public safety answering point,” or PSAP, in early 2018, and inherited a host of challenges, from technology woes to understaffing… READ MORE
Jamie Huston works on the 911 dispatch desk in Bedford County on Monday. Mirror photo by Calem Illig
BEDFORD — Nearly a dozen lives have been saved in the past two years with the help of a 911 dispatcher in Bedford County.
It’s a job where “you never know what’s going on at the other end” when you answer a call, dispatchers said, but being able to keep calm and in turn, calm down the caller, can be the difference between life and death… READ MORE
Deschutes 911 is the latest industry impacted by a labor shortage.
“We have seven current openings, and at this moment we don’t have any applicants that made it through our initial screening process,” said Chris Perry, General Operations Manager for Deschutes County 911.
Though the shortage isn’t causing missed emergency calls yet, it has resulted in several dispatch employees working overtime, or skipping their holidays.
For a job requiring a sharp mind under pressure, working extra hours doesn’t help…
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
