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This weeks article is to inform you about a vital part of the public safety. It is our dispatchers. They are the ones that you first hear when you call for help. Their job is to get us to you, so the information that you give them assists us in getting to you. They receive calls that are emergencies and non-emergencies. They have to prioritize the incoming calls. If they have to place you on hold, the reason might be have to dispatch police, fire, ambulance, first responders, OES, and wreckers to a motor vehicle accident. Depending on the seriousness of the accident they might have to try to get a helicopter headed this way to save a life.
Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers, also called public safety dispatchers or 911 operators, monitor the location of emergency services personnel from one or all of the jurisdiction’s emergency services departments. This means Heber Springs Police and Fire Departments, Cleburne County Sheriffs Deputies, Concord Police, Quitman Police, Greers Ferry Police, Arkansas State Troopers and Arkansas Game and Fish in our county, and all ambulances, first responders, and our volunteer fire departments. They also handle radio traffic of the elected constables. These workers dispatch the appropriate type and number of units in response to calls for assistance. Dispatchers, or call takers, often are the first people the public contacts when emergency assistance is required. If certified for emergency medical services, the dispatcher may provide medical instruction to those on the scene of the emergency until the medical staff arrives, if not they transfer you to the hospital or appropriate facility for the situation.
Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers work in a variety of settings—a police station, a fire station, a hospital, or, increasingly, a centralized communications center. In some areas, one of the major departments serves as the communications center. In our case it is the Heber Springs Police Department that serves as the centralized communication center. In these situations, all emergency calls go to our department, where a dispatcher handles their calls and screens the others before transferring them to the appropriate service.
When handling calls, dispatchers question each caller carefully to determine the type, seriousness, and location of the emergency. The information obtained is posted on a computer and/or by hand on incident forms. The dispatcher then quickly decides the priority of the incident, the kind and number of units needed, and the location of the closest and most suitable units available. When appropriate, dispatchers stay in close contact with other service providers—for example, a police dispatcher would monitor the response of the fire department when there is a major fire. In a medical emergency, dispatchers keep in close touch not only with the dispatched units, but also with the caller. They may give extensive first-aid instructions before the emergency personnel arrive, while the caller is waiting for the ambulance. Dispatchers continuously give updates on the patient’s condition to the ambulance personnel and often serve as a link between the medical staff in a hospital and the emergency medical technicians in the ambulance.
Our dispatchers handle themselves professionally, but this is an extremely stressful job and they are only human. We all have said something and it not come out the way it was intended. Chief Smith wants to hear your suggestions, praises, and even complaints. We need to know what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong, and ideas that might make operations better. Thanks again for helping make Cleburne County THE PLACE TO LIVE.
This weeks article is to inform you about a vital part of the public safety. It is our dispatchers. They are the ones that you first hear when you call for help. Their job is to get us to you, so the information that you give them assists us in getting to you. They receive calls that are emergencies and non-emergencies. They have to prioritize the incoming calls. If they have to place you on hold, the reason might be have to dispatch police, fire, ambulance, first responders, OES, and wreckers to a motor vehicle accident. Depending on the seriousness of the accident they might have to try to get a helicopter headed this way to save a life.
Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers, also called public safety dispatchers or 911 operators, monitor the location of emergency services personnel from one or all of the jurisdiction’s emergency services departments. This means Heber Springs Police and Fire Departments, Cleburne County Sheriffs Deputies, Concord Police, Quitman Police, Greers Ferry Police, Arkansas State Troopers and Arkansas Game and Fish in our county, and all ambulances, first responders, and our volunteer fire departments. They also handle radio traffic of the elected constables. These workers dispatch the appropriate type and number of units in response to calls for assistance. Dispatchers, or call takers, often are the first people the public contacts when emergency assistance is required. If certified for emergency medical services, the dispatcher may provide medical instruction to those on the scene of the emergency until the medical staff arrives, if not they transfer you to the hospital or appropriate facility for the situation.
Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers work in a variety of settings—a police station, a fire station, a hospital, or, increasingly, a centralized communications center. In some areas, one of the major departments serves as the communications center. In our case it is the Heber Springs Police Department that serves as the centralized communication center. In these situations, all emergency calls go to our department, where a dispatcher handles their calls and screens the others before transferring them to the appropriate service.
When handling calls, dispatchers question each caller carefully to determine the type, seriousness, and location of the emergency. The information obtained is posted on a computer and/or by hand on incident forms. The dispatcher then quickly decides the priority of the incident, the kind and number of units needed, and the location of the closest and most suitable units available. When appropriate, dispatchers stay in close contact with other service providers—for example, a police dispatcher would monitor the response of the fire department when there is a major fire. In a medical emergency, dispatchers keep in close touch not only with the dispatched units, but also with the caller. They may give extensive first-aid instructions before the emergency personnel arrive, while the caller is waiting for the ambulance. Dispatchers continuously give updates on the patient’s condition to the ambulance personnel and often serve as a link between the medical staff in a hospital and the emergency medical technicians in the ambulance.
Our dispatchers handle themselves professionally, but this is an extremely stressful job and they are only human. We all have said something and it not come out the way it was intended. Chief Smith wants to hear your suggestions, praises, and even complaints. We need to know what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong, and ideas that might make operations better. Thanks again for helping make Cleburne County THE PLACE TO LIVE.
