Department of Labor as clerical positions. Dispatchers and call-takers are classified by the U.S. The staffing challenges come as industry leaders continue to push to reclassify the job of telecommunication officers. I can’t underestimate how hard they work and what a tough job they do,” Rennie-Brown said. They may lose their vacation time or have to cancel plans. It’s hard for people to miss family events. Harriet Rennie-Brown, executive director of the National Association of State 911 Administrators, said it’s those requirements that have led to staffing challenges. “We have to put on our boots and go to work the next day.”ĭispatchers in many locations are required to work long hours, sometimes 12-hour shifts, with mandatory overtime to ensure there enough coverage to man 911 call centers. We’re humans, and we’re talking to people on the worst day of their lives when they’re calling for help,” Steinmiller said. There is fatigue along with mental anguish that comes with the job, so this isn’t for everyone. “Hands down that was one of the worst days of my career. He was on duty as calls came into the Allegheny County emergency management center when a gunman stormed into the Squirrel Hill synagogue during weekend services in October 2018 and fatally shot 11 congregants. Steinmiller, a 911 staffer in Allegheny County since 2011, serves as union shop steward for 911 employees. “Staffing has improved, and our focus is now on training and retaining workers,” said telecommunications officer Michael Steinmiller of Shaler. The posted salary for a new telecommunications officer in the 911 center is $25.86 per hour. The union last year reached a three-year labor deal with Allegheny County for a contract that officials said stabilized staffing. SEIU spokeswoman Samantha Shewmaker said negotiations with the county on a new deal have stalled. The current four-year labor deal expires at the end of this year. Meanwhile, the salary scale set as part of a collective bargaining contract approved in 2020 with the Service Employees International Union Local 668, which presents about 600 county workers, including 911 telecommunication officers, remains unchanged. New hires also receive $1,500 a sign-on bonus all employees receive $1,500 annual bonuses. In Westmoreland County, newly hired telecommunications staffers earn $20.35 per hour or $42,328 per year before available overtime. Staffing issues became heightened after the coronavirus pandemic, leaving many emergency dispatch operations to seek alternatives to ensure the centers continue to be able to adequately field 911 calls. “We’re on that fragile line between stable and unstable,” he said. Mertz said job stress, pay and other factors impact staffing levels.įour people resigned in August, and although 10 prospective hires started a 10-week training course in September, Mertz said, it will be months before they assume full-time roles at the 911 center. In Westmoreland County, the 911 center fields about 850 calls a day. Some centers just can’t get over the hump to where there is always a deficit.” “The more overtime, the more burnout and people leave, and then the cycle starts all over again. “It creates a vicious cycle,” said Ty Wooten, director of government affairs for the Utah-based IAED, a nonprofit research organization that provides assistance for 911 centers. There were 166 of the centers reporting vacancy rates of more than 40%. The study looked at 774 call centers and found 36% reported vacancy rates that exceeded 30% of staffing levels in 2022. The groups found a 25% average vacancy rate at emergency dispatch centers throughout the United States. Westmoreland’s vacancy rate falls in line with national averages, according to a study published last year by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch and the National Association of State 911 Administrators. It currently has 46 people on staff with 14 vacancies.Īllegheny County has a staff of 246 telecommunication officers and 13 vacant positions, according to Matt Brown, chief of emergency services. Westmoreland County is supposed to operate with a roster of 60 call-takers and dispatchers. With limited staff it makes it more difficult, and it puts a lot of things in jeopardy,” said Westmoreland County Public Safety Director Roland “Bud” Mertz. “When phones are ringing, they need to be answered. Officials say staffing issues continue to plague emergency dispatch centers as municipalities struggle to fill shifts and force employees to work overtime to ensure there are enough people to take those potentially life-saving calls. It’s a call that can save someone’s life, but the local centers where 911 dispatchers work to answer those pleas for help are seeing more and more empty work spaces.
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