Dispatching as an EMT

[KirkAndrzejewski]

Hello all,

Recently acquired a position at my local EMS company. Was working roughly 40 miles away due to the fact that my local company nicotine tested Job applicants and I knew I'd never pass, but I have a since quit because driving 40 miles a day to work and 40 miles back isn't financially feasible, but that's another story.

My local company requires EMT's to dispatch as well. Usually one shift on road one shift on dispatch and vice versa. A set rotation if you will. I have never dispatched and don't look forward to it, but does any one have any experience or insight? Am I going to be bored out of my mind or is it pretty fun? Also, will be working nights.

 

[chaz90]

I have no experience dispatching, but I guess you have to do what you have to do to earn a paycheck.

See how it goes first before passing judgment. I would bet you're not the 911 PSAP, so it's probably pretty informal and on your company's private dispatch channel. Keep track of where crews are, don't be a nag, spread the workload fairly as possible, send crews the resources they need, and try to let them get off on time. Good luck and have fun!

 

[squirrel15]

I have no experience dispatching, but I guess you have to do what you have to do to earn a paycheck.

See how it goes first before passing judgment. I would bet you're not the 911 PSAP, so it's probably pretty informal and on your company's private dispatch channel. Keep track of where crews are, don't be a nag, spread the workload fairly as possible, send crews the resources they need, and try to let them get off on time. Good luck and have fun!

That is not how dispatch does things at all, at least not where I work. You're supposed to always nag us, never give us anything we need, and hold us over as much as possible. So do the opposite of what he said and you'll be a normal dispatcher yay!

 

[EMDispatch]

I've never done dispatch for a private service, but what chaz90 said is pretty much you important points. Don't lose track of people, and try to be reasonable. If you're doing 911, there's other things to cover, but he's given you a good start.

 

[CALEMT]

Never done/tried dispatching, the crews would fear me as a dispatcher haha. But in all seriousness what chaz90 said. I personally have first hand experience when saying crews LOVE it when you're not a nag, spread the workload, and when you get off on time. Theres probably much more things like others have said, but chaz pretty much gave you the barebones basic's.

 

[ERDoc]

It is going to depend on where you work. I started as a dispatcher while I was taking my EMT class. I was dispatching for a private, non-911 service but we also dispatched for some of the local vollies. It was a lot of fun. You got to meet all of the crews and knew them by name and face on the private side while the vollies where just faceless voices on the radio. It got real busy at times but was always fun. I like working the evening shifts since there was no management around and it gave me time to study for EMT class and undergrad. Long story short (too late) it all depends on where you work.

 

[phideux]

Do like the dispatchers did at one place I used to work, spread everyone out everywhere so that by 1/4 of the way through the shift you are sending a medic unit with a minimum of a 90 minute response time to the chest pain going from the nursing center to the ER across the street. send all of your BLS units are out of county and it's now dialysis go home time to keep all your Medic units busy for the next 3hrs, send an ALS unit 45 miles to a BLS go home transport from the ER to the nursing center across the street when there is a BLS crew in the station right behind you 10 minutes from the ER, continually get pulled from the hospital that you are contracted with for trauma and STEMI coverage to run routine discharges 1 and 2 counties away continually missing trauma and STEMI transports, catching grief from the hospital for not bing there and from the 911 units that end up doing your job for you.
Thank God that place went under, I hope some of those dispatchers found different lines of work after that.

 

[DrParasite]

My local company requires EMT's to dispatch as well. Usually one shift on road one shift on dispatch and vice versa. A set rotation if you will. I have never dispatched and don't look forward to it, but does any one have any experience or insight? Am I going to be bored out of my mind or is it pretty fun? Also, will be working nights.

No working out in the rain or snow, no lifting of heavy patients, and you have climate control and unlimited internet access, where you aren't stuck in a truck for 12 hours? Yeah, that's going to be rough....

Of course, there is a downside: you are often stuck in a dispatch area for 8-12 hours, three or four phone lines for 1 dispatcher, every caller thinks they are the only call and don't want to me put on hold, every facility wants the ambulance there immediately, regardless of how many resources you actually have, when a crew runs late, you get the brunt of the blame, etc.

5 years of emergency 911 dispatch, and another year or so of non-emergency dispatch, so I can give a couple tips: bring your laptop, or something to do in your downtime, because you will have time where nothing is happening (esp if you work overnights). If you are doing NETS (non-emergency transport services), let your crews know when their first run is scheduled for. Try to share the runs evenly, whether by zone/area of coverage, or on a rotational basis. Try to give your crews time to grab food, but remember, if they have had 3 hours off in the morning, and you give them an 11:30 run, and they ***** about needing to get food, well, what have they been doing for the past 3 hours?

Lastly, as a dispatcher, your job is to give out runs, and you have a supervisor who you answer to. you DON'T answer to field crews. You have a job to do, and if you don't do your job to make the field crews like you more, you can find yourself out of a job. If a field crew has an issue with someone you do, they can either call you on the phone and discuss it (politely and reasonably), or they can discuss it with your supervisor after the run. But they still need to do what they are directed to do; and if not, document it appropriately and later people higher up the chain of command handle it. And sometimes you need to do unpopular stuff (giving out late runs, etc), which is what your company tells you to do and is what the company rules say can happen... if you have no other choice, do your job, even if it's not the popular decision.