Voices of Comfort

911 dispatchers face their own emotional, operational, and behavioral health challenges. Personal strategies and leadership can help support them

“911, what’s your emergency?” With that single question, the exchange becomes a relationship where one person is in crisis and the other needs to decipher a plan of attack while maintaining their own composure. This interaction, according to the 911 stats from the National Emergency Number Association, occurs about 240 million times annually in the United States, averaging more than 600,000 calls per day.

Unless you have sat in that chair and performed this job as a first responder, even this author cannot pretend to understand the price a communication specialist/dispatcher pays.

Yet, with 37 years between my active service, founder of Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, licensed counselor and close to five years as the behavioral health administrator for a large city department, I will share what I have observed.

First, a communication specialist/dispatcher is a first responder and should be recognized as such in every town or city across America. They deserve the highest respect, strong benefits, equal compensation and comprehensive behavioral health care as any other first responder.

I have spoken to numerous dispatch centers across America to gain a better understanding on hiring practices, training, hours worked and behavioral health care. I have presented numerous workshops designed specifically for our communication specialists/dispatchers based on my 17 years in the behavioral health realm of first responders. I have been tracking firefighter, EMS and dispatcher suicides since 2010. This article will not have all the answers but I hope you will find something within to assist the men and women who deal with the public, via the telephone, on a daily basis.

Training: I am sure the public has very little information on the depth of training that takes place when someone accepts a position as a dispatcher.

• Classroom knowledge typically can last two to four months
• This includes department procedures/policies, customer service, learning the computer system/equipment, and the software
• Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) is a vital learning function. This entails assisting callers with CPR, injuries, breathing difficulties, baby delivery and other emergency incidents

Once they graduate from this training, they hit the floor to be trained on how to answer the calls from the public. This is a stressful time for trainees, as well as those assigned to train them. This process can take, depending on the successful candidate, upwards of two to three months. When they pass this section, they are assigned to work with the firefighters, police and EMS responders. They handle the on-scene situations. This training can also take two to three months. So overall, they handle seven to nine months of stress, anxiety and hard work before being signed-off to be all alone to handle calls.

Behavioral Health Challenges

So you are ready as a dispatcher. Let’s focus on what I believe can be the most difficult part of this career. That is the behavioral health component. I recently spoke with an interview panel of applicants for a communications specialist position. The panel advised me that more than half of the 49 applicants asked about the behavioral health care of that organization. So as department leaders we need to ask ourselves this question, as well, with regard to our dispatchers. What challenges might they face on a daily basis?

• The emotional impact of hearing people in anguish when calling 911.
• The lack of closure on calls, especially pertaining to babies and children. (In our department it is one of the top issues I address, to help dispatchers get closure)
• The shift work. Most organizations run 12-hour shifts. It is a high intensity career with very little movement away from their panel
• Their trauma work exposes them to many situations that can trigger post-traumatic stress (PTS). In addition, moral injury can play a role as a dispatcher. Whereas, PTS is based on traumatic or fearful events, moral injury hits a person’s emotions. Dispatchers can feel helpless, failure to do good, or even guilty, feeling like they didn’t do enough to help someone
• Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (FBHA) has validated 17 dispatcher suicides (2016-2025)

Organizational leaders, it is dependent upon you to ensure good behavioral health care, such as a proactive Employee Assistance Program comprised of clinicians who have sat in a dispatch center to observe members in action, and an active peer support team with several dispatchers on the team. They should be on the floor for those late-night calls.

Recommendations

I realize the challenges dispatch centers face across the country, from the size of the organization to funding. I am making these recommendations to see how an organization can adjust or improve the quality of the job for their people.

Every member should be doing an internal size-up every day. This means we ask ourselves two questions: Why am I acting this way? Why am I feeling this way? We also need to listen to our bodies. They’re often the first to signal when something is off, like rising anxiety, growing anger, or trouble sleeping. Sometimes the signs show up in other ways, such as slipping into an unhealthy coping habit or feeling unable to motivate ourselves on our days off.

The best approach is to begin talking. To your support system at home, a peer support member, chaplain, friend or co-worker. Look for a counselor who works primarily with first responders. Contact FBHA for its vetted list of counselors who work with our culture. It will find you one at no cost.

While at work, try walking on a treadmill for a bit while taking calls. Techniques such as bi‑lateral tapping and four‑count combat breathing (inhale, hold, exhale) can help lower anxiety.

A department’s resources can be easily accessible if they’re placed in a QR code members can scan. Supervisors should also give team members time to recover after a traumatic call.

Final Thoughts

A dispatcher’s world is challenging, and the public and management often overlook just how demanding it is. Listening to heartbreak day after day inevitably takes a toll on every dispatcher. Providing the best resources for them is essential, but it comes down to each individual. They need to seek help and not be culturally brainwashed by believing they can handle a lifetime of pain during their career. FBHA has always believed we should have a great career but a better retirement. It starts by asking ourselves, what is our “emergency?”