The Association of Public-Safety Communication Officials (APCO) recently announced they will be seeking a job category change for emergency telecommunication operators. Currently, 9-1-1 operators and public safety dispatchers fall under the “Administrative Clerical” category. APCO is pushing for operators to be classified as “Public Safety.” What exciting news! Finally, the largest international organization representing those who deal with tragedy and chaos on the phone and radio will receive the recognition and benefits fitting what they truly are—first responders. I often wondered how having our benefits negotiated by the same entity that deals with secretaries and trash collectors made sense. While I was employed with the City of Phoenix, we tried to get the local police association to pick up the dispatchers as well. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t have us. With this new classification, we will finally be represented by people who understand shift work, mandatory overtime and 24/7 staffing. Hopefully, the mental health benefits will also improve with an understanding we deal with the stress and trauma of first responders. Until that time, we need to look out for ourselves and each other. Using the acronym SANE can help.
Stop
The first step to improving our ability to process the stress and trauma we deal with on a daily basis is to just stop. Emergency communications operators are master multi-taskers, often with Type-A personalities and being on the 9-1-1 floor or in the radio room can leave you exhausted. It’s like the inside of a beehive with a constant din of conversation and movement. Slowing down is hard for operators. Slow shifts are almost intolerable and you can see the tension sitting still and quiet creates. We like to be in the middle of the chaos orchestrating the players. But, to keep from crashing and burning, we must be willing to just stop and slow down for just a moment. At least long enough to hear our own thoughts and listen to our overworked, adrenaline-crashed bodies asking for our attention.
Acknowledge
Next, we must acknowledge that our work is stressful. For too long we have judged ourselves and our co-workers harshly stating that this job is not for the weak and if someone can’t handle it than they should look for another occupation. I’m not saying that it doesn’t take a special person to be an emergency communications operator. I’m saying that we need to look at the processes we deal with and acknowledge that we are going to have physical, mental and emotional consequences. Some people have more resilience to stress but everyone has a reaction. Unfortunately, too many of us are willing to just keep stuffing our mounting feelings of cynicism, despair and dissociation. Instead of recognizing that stressful events will occur, cumulative trauma can build up and our minds and bodies may react in unusual and unpleasant ways. This is complicated work and we must acknowledge the consequences, if we hope to mitigate them.
Normalize
Once we acknowledge that we have mental and physical reactions to our occupation, we must be willing to normalize it. Again this goes back to the “you just can’t hack it” mentality which is too common. If we were to strip away all of the judgment and expectations and just look at the normal human physiological response to events such as screaming, fighting, shooting, suicide, etc, we would see that a chemical reaction occurs. We are virtually in the middle of an emergency situation trying to control the scene with only our voices. Unlike other first responders who show up, tackle the bad guy, put out the fire or stop the bleeding, all we have is our words. Essentially, we sit in auditory helplessness. This concept alone, not even considering the adrenaline dump, lack of closure, etc, causes a person to have a stress reaction. We must accept that we are affected. It doesn’t mean that we are weak or sensitive or unprofessional. It means we are human dealing with an inhumane world.
Educate
Once we are able to stop, acknowledge and normalize the responses and consequences of taking hundreds of thousands of 9-1-1 calls and spending hours upon hours handling first responder traffic, we can give ourselves permission to start mitigating. We can fight back against impending burn-out from the very beginning of a career and not after someone has become another disappointing headline. Learning about stress, its impact on the body and how to deal with it in a healthy manner should be at the root of every training program. There should be on-going training and support. Even just learning how to breathe or doing a few stretches can mitigate the mental and physical tightness. Eat well, exercise, limit alcohol consumption, hang out with positive people and laugh. There is a plethora of research that details how to become resilient and how to manage stress. Once we are able to talk about it, we can become a team in fighting it.
APCO’s announcement couldn’t have come at a better time. Researchers, such as Michelle M. Lilly at Northern Illinois University are doing empirical studies showing emergency communication operators face the same stress and consequences as other first responders. We would never say that an officer dealing with the scene of a suicide won’t have thoughts and feelings about it. We shouldn’t say the same thing when an operator talks to the man who then shoots himself on the phone with her. Unlike the officer who gets time to handle the scene then write the report, as soon as the man shoots himself, the operator disconnects and moves right on to the next call. It is up to us to take care of ourselves and each other. From an operator’s very first day to their last, techniques for self-care need to be discussed openly and healthy coping mechanisms to use in the moment and at home need to be taught. Utilizing SANE, we can take care of ourselves while taking care of others.
Michelle Perin
Michelle Perin has been a freelance writer since 2000. In December 2010, she earned her Master’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana State University.
