Cool Careers - Episode 22_ Emergency Dispatcher

Hi, I'm Nikayla. If you're like me, you've been told to call 911 if there's an emergency. You know, like if there's a fire in your house or someone in your family suddenly gets really sick. All you have to do is simply pick up your phone and dial these three digits. And someone will be available to help you right away. How can I help you? This is the police department. Can you hand over your phone? But who are the people on the other end of that call, ready to help with any type of emergency at any time of day or night? Today, we're in Kansas City, Kansas visiting the KCK Police Department. We will meet a dispatcher to learn about her job and why you should consider this as a possible career. Let's go! I'd like you to meet Jazz, a dispatcher with the KCK Police Department. Can you start by telling us what happens when someone calls 911? 10-4. When a 911 call comes in, a call taker quickly answers the phone and determines the location of the emergency. It's important for us to know their address right away so that if we get disconnected, we can still send help. If the person is reporting a fire or medical emergency, we then transfer the call to the fire department's dispatchers. If it is a police matter, a call for service is made on the computer, then police dispatchers will send officers to the scene. In some extreme situations, police, fire, and paramedics are all sent to the scene, and the dispatchers work together to coordinate a joint response. So let me get this straight. There are two types of emergency dispatchers? Police and fire dispatchers? 10-4. The fire department has their own dispatchers. They handle medical and fire calls and dispatch the fire department and 1049s, I mean ambulances, to help. It might be different where you live, but here, when you apply to become a dispatcher, you can choose whether to apply to the police or fire departments. Why do you keep saying numbers like 10-4 or 10-49? My bad. I'm used to using codes on the radio. That's how we quickly communicate with the officers. 10-4 means affirmative, or yes, and 10-49 means ambulance. It's like a secret first responder language. Does that make sense? 10-4. So then what happens? Then dispatchers send officers to calls based on priority. We have a priority scale of 1 to 4. 1 and 2 are referred to as high priority calls. 3 and 4 are less emergent and non-emergency calls. Emergency calls are dispatched with multiple officers and handled before non-emergent calls. While handling calls, officers use their radios to ask us dispatchers to help them with tasks we can do here. For example, we check license plates in our computer system to see if a car's owner is wanted by the police or if the car is stolen. We work as a team with the police officers by doing what we can to collect information and assist them. That way we can best protect and serve the public while staying safe. Has anyone ever called you for something silly like to get a cat out of a tree? That's the classic example. Have you ever seen a dead cat in a tree? We just tell people it's going to come down on its own. While some calls end up not being emergencies, many calls are for serious things like shoplifting, missing people, car accidents, or even really scary situations like when someone gets shot. That's a lot going on at once. So what runs through your mind when you get a call about something serious? Yes, sometimes there is a lot going on on both the phone and the radio. It's our job to stay calm, keep the person on the phone calm and safe, and then try to gather as much information as possible to help the officers. How many calls do you get each day? Our center receives about 1,200 calls every day. That's about 400,000 a year. Oh, wow. That's a lot of calls. Some calls aren't really emergencies but require police attention while we help with all types of situations, big and small. It's important that people don't call 911 unless it's a real emergency. Doing so ties up dispatchers and can create a problem if someone isn't available to help when a real emergency happens. All police departments have other phone numbers for problems that aren't emergencies. So would you like to see what it's like to be a police dispatcher? My supervisor Manuel said he would help us do a pretend 911 call. But don't worry, I'll help you know exactly what to do. Okay, I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous. There are so many screens and buttons and lights everywhere. It's kind of intimidating. Don't worry. It's 100% make-believe. I'll be with you the whole time. And if you were really in training, you would get lots of time and instruction to know exactly what to do before you answered any real calls. So are you ready to try answering a pretend call for yourself? Ten-four. But first, I do have one question. Go for it. Do police officers really like donuts? Because I'm kind of hungry and a donut sounds really good right now. Of course police officers love donuts and dispatchers. Who doesn't love donuts? I'll make you a deal. I'll show you exactly how to answer a 911 call. And afterwards, if you pay close attention and do exactly what I say, I'll make sure you get all the donuts you want. You got yourself a deal. Jazz took me to her workstation and I got to answer the pretend 911 calls. 911, where's your emergency? It's at 7th and State. 7th and State? Yep. What's going on there? Uh, there are like two males fighting at the bus stop. Does he see any weapons? Do you see any weapons? Yeah, I believe one of them possibly has a knife. We'll have officers check it out as soon as we can. Alrighty, thank you. Okay, so now I'm going to fake dispatch the officers to the fake call we just took, okay? And it would sound like this. 110-120 for an armed disturbance, 7th and State, 7th Street and State Avenue. Two males fighting at the bus stop. Actually, they're in the street now. A white male, green shirt, Hispanic male, blue shirt, one possibly has a knife. Caller doesn't know them. They want to be anonymous. I'll show you a route at 1426. 331 copies, I'm South Patrol. And that's it. Once they get there, they'll tell us that they got there, if they're really going. And then I would put them on scene, and once they're there talking to anyone, they'll let me know what's going on. It was a lot of fun to pretend to be a dispatcher and to see Jazz do her job. See, nothing to worry about. It's all about remaining calm and following your training. Are you ready for your reward? Oh, am I. Hold out your hands like this. Oh, wow. If I can make donuts magically appear, all the officers will really want me on their team. Anything for the cause. Now set those donuts down over there. Then you can ask me the rest of your questions. And save me the chocolate one with the sprinkles and no snacking. So, Jazz, why did you decide to become a dispatcher in the first place? Well, I've been interested in criminal justice since I was a kid. At first, I thought I wanted to become a police officer. I even went to the police academy, but afterward, I decided I liked working in dispatch best. Because people work in dispatch 24-7, many dispatchers work long and late hours. I worked my way up in seniority, so I have normal daytime hours, which means I can be home at night with my son and get normal sleep. But I worked night shift for several years, and I enjoyed it too. So, Jazz, what do you like most about what you do? I've always wanted to work in law enforcement since I was a kid and help people. This is a great way to do that. It's fulfilling work, important, and every day is different. So, if I decide if I want to be an emergency dispatcher someday, where should I start? Well, first things first. If you want to work in law enforcement, you should stay out of trouble. That means no getting arrested and no doing drugs. Check and check. What's next? While in school, be sure to take as many classes as you can in communications, sociology, and psychology. Some high schools even offer law enforcement classes. Also, be sure to gain experience through jobs or activities that teach you to be comfortable interacting with people, asking questions, and talking on the phone. You need to enjoy working with people and helping solve their problems. As soon as you're 18, you can apply to be a dispatcher, either for police or fire. After you're hired, you'll start as a call taker and get paid from day one to learn the codes and how to interact with the officers on the radios. Wait, did I hear you say you'll get paid to learn this job and no expensive classes needed? You got that right. We need lots more dispatchers in this state. Here in KCK, we'll pay you and give you full benefits from the very first day. It takes about nine months to learn this entire job. You'll start by watching others do the job, and then each week you'll slowly learn more and more until you're ready to take calls and dispatch on your own. I hear there's a cool way for high school students to see if they like this job. Yes. In Kansas City, we have a cadet program that allows second semester high school seniors to get paid $15 an hour to work here while getting school credit. If they like it, they can apply for full-time or part-time work when they graduate. Any senior in Wyandotte County can apply. And if our viewers don't live in Wyandotte County? They should check in their city to see if they have a similar program available to them. That's cool. I'd like to thank Jazz and everyone I met today at the KCKPD for giving me a special glimpse about what it's like to work as an emergency dispatcher. It's a hard job, but it's so important for someone to be available when we need help. I hope this video has inspired you to learn more about jobs in law enforcement. You can visit HirePass.com to learn more about this and other high-demand jobs in Kansas. Until next time, this is Nakayla signing off in Kansas City, Kansas. Have a great day! Can I share the donuts now? 10-4. Yes. See? Nothing to worry about. It's all about being well-trained and staying calm under pressure. Are you ready for your reward? Oh, am I? I just wasn't prepared. Just a random wave. I'm sad it's over.