911 dispatchers have a serious day-to-day job.
Dispatcher can find it difficult to maintain a normal life.
“Depending on the day, there could be multiple different phone calls; one day you could go to work and have a totally normal night and the next it could be the worst night of work you’ve had and with this job you never know what you’re getting into until you go in and start your shift,” Tristan Smith, 911 dispatcher, said.
“With 12 hour shifts there isn’t much time left to do things around the house or for going out on days you have to work,” Smith said. “Working night shifts, you are at work all night and spend most of the day sleeping before going back the next night. For night shift workers it’s always a tough choice to try and stay up all day on your days off after working all night, or to lose the day catching up on sleep.”
The job is rewarding but can be stressful.
“As a dispatcher it calls for a lot of awareness; it is rewarding to be able to help people that need help and no day is the same because the calls that come in vary in many difficult ways which requires different emergency responses,” Teresa Bradley, 911 dispatch supervisor, said.
“My days are 12 hour shifts. Some days the phone calls are non-stop. There is constant radio traffic from police, fire, and EMS. As a supervisor, I am monitoring all the radio traffic along with the other dispatchers under me.”
Many former dispatchers suggest others to have a good mindset before choosing this job.
“During this job you just have to remember that no matter what happens all you can do is your best and you can’t always have complete control over the outcome of every situation because outside of work you have to understand that once you clock out and go home, any issues you dealt with are over and you can’t let it impact the way you handle your personal life,” Smith said.
“When I applied for the job it was really only because I was tired of working at places like Walmart with few chances of advancement or stability as a career,” Smith said. “I would say I enjoy the job more often than the people you get to work with either other dispatchers who you interact with daily or the emergency service workers who always have something interesting to say.
“Some things that make it non-enjoyable are the stress, wondering about the people who call, or simply having a day where the negativity is too much to deal with,” Smith said.
“Being a dispatcher I have learned to enjoy other things like exercising or watching movies to relax,” Bradley said. “This helps to take my mind off the job. I also spend time with my daughter which I love the most, and we both love watching movies and eating at restaurants. Sometimes I’ll cook for her and experiment with different dishes for her to try but these are few things I enjoy to keep my mind stable.
“I started working in 911 in 1998. I had no idea how the job would be,” Bradley said. “After working there, I have grown to enjoy the job. I have left and come back to the job, so therefore I thoroughly enjoy this job because it allows me to give a service to the community. I enjoy helping people; no calls are the same which keeps the job interesting.”
