Re: 911:: questions about training

[Guest guest]

I am in Bucks County, PA. Our training program is approximately a 5 month

process combining classroom training, simulations, and OJT with a trainer.

Our new hires start out with a 10 week classroom session in which they are

taught APCO's Basic Telecommunicator Course, APCO EMD. Those cover 2 weeks

of the training. The remaining 8 weeks are comprised of training specific to

our department and our CAD system. Our Training Coordinator is an APCO

instructor for the basic course, and our Assistant Training Coordinator is an

APCO master instructor for all APCO courses.

The department specific sections include geography of the county, learning

all the municipalities by name, identifier, radio zone, and status of full

time, part time and covered by the state police. The trainees are given many

hours of simulations on both call taking and radio ops. The trainees are

given several classes dealing specifically with call types and their

definitions for all three classes of service (police/fire/ems). Our dept is

the sole PSAP in the county, and handles ALL radio traffic for

Police/Fire/EMS in the county.

When the trainee completes the classroom phase, they move on to a 6 week OJT

phase, dealing with strictly call taking. This is a new thing for us, and it

has dramatically improved the call taking skills of our newer dispatchers.

Once the call taking phase is finished, the trainees move onto another 6

weeks of OJT dealing with radio zones. Throughout both OJT phases, the

trainee is assigned to a single trainer. The trainer works with the trainee

to fine tune the lessons learned in the classroom, and move them into the

real world. Our trainers each have their own style, and an effort is made by

the training coordinator to match up personalities between trainers and

trainees, and also will put a weaker trainee with a more experienced trainer.

The trainer is the first step in the chain of command for the trainee, and

any problems or questions go thru the trainer, this tends to reduce, if not

eliminate the embarassment of making a mistake, or having to listen to grief

from allegedly seasoned dispatchers. The trainers initially start out

plugged into the same console with the trainee, and as the trainees

confidence and skills improve, the trainers begin remote monitoring from a

spare console. When the trainer feels the trainee is ready to be on their

own, a supervisor will be asked to conduct an evaluation of the new

dispatchers skills. This evaluation process may take more than one night.

In addition to the evaluation, supervisors are encouraged to monitor the

trainees to see if there is something the trainer is missing.

Our trainers are selected based on ability and the quality of their work. If

ability and quality are equal, then seniority is used to decide. Overall,

our training program works for us. It is a very time and money consuming

process, but the investment pays for itself the first time the rookie has a

" hot " incident, and manages to maintain their composure, and react based on

their training.

As far as not making it in a dept that has an informal training philosophy, I

don't think that will effect a persons success in a center with a formal

training program, as long as they are honest in the interview process.

Pennsylvania has recently enacted minimum standars that all dispatchers in

the state have to meet, and maintain to be state certified as emergency

dispatchers. While their standards are a minimum, they are still a beginning

to making some consistency from center to center.

Jim I

Bucks Co Dept of Emergency Communications

===just my thoughts and opinions, not those of my agency====

[Guest guest]

Blue:

<< I am wondering what kinds of training folks have gotten when

you first started out. Did you have formal classes? >>>

Very formal classroom training for 6 weeks which was great. Then I had two

great phone trainers followed by a third who slept 13 out of 14 nights she

was with me.

<How long did it take you to learn the CAD system? >

I don't think this can really be a standard to look at -- I'm tired -- its

not coming out right -- my center uses a DOS based CAD system and I not only

" grew up " on DOS, I happen to love using it. I'm not a big fan of windows --

I'm proficient but I prefer DOS. I think how fast you learn depends on

whether or not you are computer literate, and if your center uses DOS do you

know it and if it uses windows are you comfortable with it.

<Were you treated well and with respect when you didn't catch onto something

within the first couple of weeks >

It depended on the trainer -- I had 3 who were outright nasty and 2 who were

great.

<or were you treated like a dummy with disparaging looks when you messed up?

>

Not only treated like a dummy but written up for stupid things -- like I

never heard of a Daewoo (?) car -- and got written up for spelling it wrong.

Cars just aren't my thing and I'm not up on every little manufacturer or

model.

<told to learn the 10 codes within a week, >

My group had to know them the first day of training.

< I am also wondering - if a person can't quite catch on at the end of

their probationary time, do you think this would kill their chances

of ever getting hired again by another department - maybe one that

actually does more formal training - if there are any out there.

>>

I work with a few people who didn't make it out of probation at another

agency but do fine and love where I am now. I've sat in with maybe 15 PD's

and SO's and one fire agency in the past 18 months -- I learn a LOT sitting

in someone else's center and find I can always find something new to try and

make me more efficient at my own job -- and each one has their own culture.

[Guest guest]

The first time I became a dispatcher was 1986 for a small city I worked

three days and put on the night shift by myself of course no cad's I learned

the Georgia 10 codes in about 3 or 4 weeks .I quit dispatching in 1998 at a

sub base for the fire department.I drove a bus on that same base for three

years not satified.I got a job at the Nassau County Sheriff's Office and

have to learn the CAD's This wasn't easy for me I am 52 YO and my memory is

not as sharp as it use to be.The first team I was put on was not for me

..Just about every day I was in tears when I left.I was treated like a

dummy.I have never let anything get the best of me.I was put on another team

and I am doing great.The girl that trained me is the same age as my baby

daughter.She is the sweetest person she has respect for me.I love her to

death.She never gets upset when I screw up never raises her voice never gets

mad.I am doing so much better.I love dispatching because it is helping

people that need help.I feel that GOD wanted me to do this for other people

and I love it.

This is my day off so got to go and catch up with house work

Glenda