Growing OLDer in the Communications Center

One of the inevitabilities of living is growing older. In fact the older I get the more I realize that it is a privilege to continue on my journey through this life. Having been in public safety for 24 years I’ve watched the experience grow on me in many unique ways. Dealing with human tragedy has its own impact alongside the regular effects of aging. Talking to other mature 911 Dispatchers I find there is a common theme in our experiences. Many of us grew up in the Communications Center and now we’re counting the days to retirement.

From Cards to CAD to Cloud

Although every generation can claim they had numerous work-altering changes, it seems in the last 50 years the changes in public safety telecommunications have been astronomical. A dispatcher who started in the 70s shared his experience from back in the day. He described a smoke filled room complete with the sound of scribbling pens as everyone took their calls. The cards, he stated, had only a few lines to fill out on the front. A glance around his console would have shown one egg-like computer screen, quite possibly green or beige and an actual telephone with a cord. He describes how the cards went from simple to more complicated, adding more lines then moving to have information also written on the back. The phone system continued to evolve as well. Then came computer aided dispatch (CAD). Although those of us who learned the trade using CAD would argue its efficiency and speed, his experience makes him disagree stating that having the dispatcher listening in and getting field responders started before the card was even fully filled out made response times less. Now dispatch has to wait for that final click for the information to show on his or her screen before the call can be tapped out. And the phone system continued to evolve. As computer hardware and software continued to be rolled out, the phone eventually became a window. Mouse clicks, then touch screens replaced handsets and even rotary dialing. Soft disconnects replaced the satisfying clunk of an emphasized hang-up. (Ok, maybe that was a good thing since we have yet to discuss the evolution of transparency, i.e. recording systems). Now when you go into a modern communications center you are faced with a dizzying array of computer screens at each position with the ability to have hundreds (possibly thousands) of windows of information pulled up on each one. Phones moved from analog to digital and the information attached in the system can tell us where someone is calling from with almost pin-point accuracy. The amazing thing about all these changes is how resilience 911 Dispatchers are and how we’ve kept up. Even with the ever occurring, “Here’s this new system. It goes live at Midnight. Have fun,” learn as you deal with emergencies style of training that exists we’ve mastered the amazing array of technological changes like beasts. (Good job team. You all rock.)

A changing world

Technology is not the only thing that has changed enormously. Again, every generation can claim changes but it seems in the last 15 years or so, much of the American culture has changed. First, there is the anti-police sentiment from the community. Officers are being singled out and murdered just because of the uniform they wear. Fire fighters and medics are being ambushed. The anger that some of the population feels toward first responders due to their perception of their personal experience and the representation of government officials has public safety responding in ways much different from the friendly (or at least cooperatively respectful) ways of the past. In 911 Dispatch, it seems the callers are ruder and more demanding. There is more animosity from the beginning of the call until the end. It no longer feels as if the public calling in understands that we are there to help them and will do whatever we can to do so. THAT, of course, hasn’t changed. Even with the negativity flowing in, we continue to be professional helpers. But those strong, unfriendly words sit with each of us and definitely color how we see our community. We can’t help it.

Second, there is what seems to be a change in the 911 Dispatchers themselves. I’ve spent some time studying the rhetoric on the Me Generation and I disagree that most of them are self-absorbed and lazy. To me, it appears the issue resides in the way that this newest generation has been brought up to think about work. Historically, a person would start a career at the beginning of their adulthood and many decades later they would retire with a pension to carry them over into their golden years. Now, seven is the magic number. The average person will change their career seven times in their lifetime. This is due to a number of factors but one big one is that there are no guarantees anymore when you enter into a career, even one that was described to me years ago as a “nice government job”. Benefits, jobs and even earned pensions are being reduced and eliminated all over the U.S. That certainty of work hard, retire happy doesn’t exist for this generation. They don’t even know what that looks like. So, because of this, they are more self-concerned when it comes to beginning a job, even one that we see as a calling. They have to be.

Aging

This topic wouldn’t be complete without talking about the elephant in the room-physical aging. Even the most physically fit person, who eats well, sleeps well, drinks lots of water, and uses techniques to manage stress gets older. Bodies age. Period. This includes diminished eye sight and hearing which really affects those of us who hear for a living. Then add in that most 911 Dispatchers have not historically taken care of themselves and you end up with a recipe for disaster. Age and stress-related diseases debilitate us. Our hands curl up from typing. Our backs sag from sitting for hours and hours over years and years. We’re constantly exhausted.  There are too many effects to mention from a life-time of a sedentary, unhealthy lifestyle and chronic stress. Add to this, retirement plans that are based on the Rule of 80 and you have older 911 Dispatchers who have an enormous amount of experience and skills, and potentially very sharp minds, but bodies that no longer want to keep up with the fast-paced world of emergency services AND who cannot retire for many more years to earn what they’ve spent their lives working towards.

Time waits for no man or woman. That’s for sure. We all mature. If we can recognize the impact of each of our life-spans and appreciate where each of us are at we can grow together. Embrace the differences and care for each other. Happy maturing.