Sunday, September 26, 2010

In Case Of Emergency, Break Glass.

Okay, fellow dispatchers, I need you to chime in here.

Let's say there was a catastrophic emergency in the area that would increase call volume, radio traffic, and mayhem in a center. Most facilities are staffed at minimum but have room for extra people (more consoles). Does anyone have a procedure sent in place that would call out to the off-duty dispatchers for an 'emergency hire' to get the center staffed to max. Since no one would be able to call through a long list of employees to hire in what would you do?

Well, during such unforeseen event I happened to go into work to assist during time of emergency, and boy we needed it. But Monday Morning quarterbacking has kicked in and people are complaining that "why did he get paid to go in on OT no one else got calls" yadda yadda. Frankly I didn't see anyone else show up, a few stayed over but not everyone. We kicked ass for 6 hours until problems were resolved and radios got quiet.

But, is that bad that I went into 'work' on my day off? Apparently I am the only one that enjoys what I do and 'wishes' that I was in on the big emergency calls. They will regret the day I am gone and working the streets and no longer working the radio because it seems that I am the only one here willing to go that extra mile!

Anyhow, I'm done rambling, I am tired for I have clocked 36 hours of OT in the last 3 days, see what I mean?

2 comments:

911 and the Randomness.. said...

I totally understand!!! I live less than a mile from my PD. I'm always going in for OT because I love my job. When it comes down to it, I've also been picked up by the guys in a squad car several times becuase they couldn't find anyone. As for emergency procedures, in the past, a sgt has called the dispatch supervisor and she calls people. Now we have a scheduling program that will also send out mass text messages to everyone if we need someone to come in right away. Usually the first to respond gets the overtime. Hope that is all understandable... email me if you have questions.
911R

Dispatcher Sassy Pants said...

We have an RSAN system that sends out a mass text, first come first serve. We're not really lacking for OT here though. There's only a core group of us that "always" work the OT.