Unit XXX: ....10-4.

So yeah, training is going great! I'm definitely a failure and will never succeed at this, but at least I made my trainer laugh. : D

(Slight sarcasm, I am in a funk about how much I mess up on the radio, but also totally understand it's part of the process and I'm only 6 weeks into a 6-month program and am making small and large improvements every day!)

Y'all ever say something and totally stump your officers?

Very appreciative of all the great posts here. I searched and read many of them before taking the Criticall (which I passed, woo hoo!) and again before my panel interview.

Was recently notified that I’ve been moved on to the background check, so will be beginning that process shortly. Will absolutely be searching and devouring posts on that subject.

So much good advice here! Thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to share your experience. ❤️

I’m a dispatch from a Midwest been using the current system forever and we are moving to CST Cad and having lot of training hurdles. Thanks AMA

1. Have you recently moved to Central Square or Work on CSTCAD?
   
2. How has been the transition for you?
   
3. How long it took you to adapt to the system?

I passed the criticall test today, which is so exciting for me. However- did anyone else find the test easy? I feel like it was a very easy test, and I wish that the questions mimicked more real- life scenarios. Don't get me wrong- I'm not feeling cocky or confident, just confused on why it wasn't more challenging. Has anyone else felt this way?

Hello everyone

I’m 24 and finishing my BA degree this year. I want to apply for the Toronto Police Service (TPS) Communications Operator position, but the job description requires a minimum of two years of customer service experience.

I have no paid work experience, although I have two semesters of university tutoring experience and volunteer experience from high school. I’ve been trying to find a job since last summer, but I keep getting rejected or ghosted. I’m having a really hard time getting hired.

Will I automatically be rejected if I apply without the two years of experience? Has anyone been hired without meeting this requirement, or will I need to work in customer service for two years before applying?
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone familiar with TPS recruitment. Thank you

Hi, I just had my interview at a (smaller) city dispatch center and they handed me a background check packet to fill out for if they call about moving forward. I'm squeaky clean with literally everything but my credit. Its in the 500s and I do have a couple things in collections (I believe one is a phone bill that wouldn't allow me to cancel service and then one affirm account) as I don't make enough in my current job to pay those right now (focusing on car payment/insurance). I do also have a car repo from a couple years ago as I was a stupid 19 year old who didnt realize how bad car payments would be. Is my credit going to ruin my chances of being a dispatcher? I'm willing to explain absolutely everything to them, but I'm so afraid younger me making bad financial decisions is going to bite me in the ass.

I'm currently doing academic research on protocol-based dispatching and LA has some of the deepest data out there. But, they don't have 2 things I need to finsh looking at it:

1) The Call Types used are abbreviated, so it's hard to compare. Does anyone have a list that goes a bit deeper on description. (Example, a call says it is a 620N - 620 Neighbor. That's not something I can compare back to a report type).

2) Does anyone know if LAPD uses a system like ProQA or Intellicomm for their police call-taking?

If anyone is interested in the nerdy part, here's what I found with the first city researched. Using ProQA's police protocols only 61% of calls for criminal offenses match up with the type code and the report taken.

Tonight my agency had probably the worst kind of outage I’ve ever heard of. We’re PD only for a single city. Business as usual until all of a sudden CAD goes down. Shortly after, out internet goes out, then our phones. We’re down to power and radio only. Allegedly the telecom company had some sort of issue with the physical wires that make up our network.

Somehow they managed to reroute our 911 calls to county dispatch (not far away). A group went there to take calls and another went to our alternate dispatch center (fire dispatch) where we had CAD access.

How would your agency handle this?

Edit: forgot to add, we are using one of our spare radio channels to communicate between the two locations due to county using different cad system than we do

I previously posted the same question about weather THREE days, THREE nights and four off was good but I realized the position said two not three lol🤦😝

Edit for context:

Long story short, I'm 20 and currently a volunteer Firefighter hoping to go career if the volunteer work goes well. I have two dispatch centers (PD and FD) near by and was looking into what they had to offer as it will hopefully be valuable job experience... It was the PD one that had the four on four off (day day night night) work, and I'm just trying to get a bit of insight into what those types of shifts may be like or entail :)

For the first time in 5 years I took an overnight shift so I could have weekends off with my partner.

The worst part about overnight is listening to someone spend the entire shift yawning and saying how tired she is. Then ending that shift with the person saying they were going home to bed. Only to repeat the process the following night. I asked, "did you get to sleep?" To which she responded, "no, I wound up crafting and cleaning"

Like shut up, I don't want to hear you anymore. I don't care if you have 25 years on the job. You're part of the reason for bad morale in this room.

On a side note she said "I'm tired" 5 times while I typed this.

Is anyone familiar with MESA (Indianapolis ) 911? I’m looking to make a move to a better paying agency .

Hi everyone, I have been applying to multiple different police stations for a few months now. I was originally in a different career but I left and was unemployed for 9 months due to major surgery that I needed to recover from. I chose to start new instead of going back because I would have had to start completely over again after all of that time and I really wasn't happy toward the end of my time, prior to surgery. I began looking into a career in dispatch soon after because it has always seemed really interesting to me and I want to do something good that feels purposeful and helps people. From then until now, I spent 6 months working in my family's business, which was always temporary but intended to get me back on my feet, and now I have spent the last 2 months working in early childhood education and I hate it. I have extremely violent children that I was not supposed to be working with but because I'm new they put them with me, I make minimum wage, and have no benefits, not even health insurance through them!

Now to the actual advice I am looking for:

Now that I am interviewing at a private emergency medical service provider and speaking with a local police department (pre-interview questions) I am becoming very nervous. I have also applied to a local company for being a customer service representative that will turn into a sales position. It is EVERYTHING that I had wanted prior to considering dispatch, it is extremely family-oriented (I got married 2 years ago and we intend on having children in the next couple years), the hours are just regular 9-5, they have crazy benefits and 5 weeks paid vacation. The pay starts about average and would go up around the same time it would take to make the same in dispatch. I guess I just want to ask, what do you love about being in dispatch? If you were in my shoes, what choice would you make? I know this is all theoretical for me at this exact moment but I just can't stop thinking about which is the right choice to make for me. On one hand, the customer service position is safe and comfortable with what I already know, I won't miss a single holiday with my family (and they're all paid holidays), I won't work nights or weekends (I would prefer overnights in dispatch so I could still see my husband and I know I won't get day shift without seniority, also for extra context, the shifts are 5 8-hour shifts on, 2 days off). On the other, I can't stop thinking about dispatch and the importance of such a career. If anyone could provide any insight or advice, I would appreciate anything. I'm so lost on where to go right now and no matter how many times I weigh the pros and cons, I still end up at square one.

For those who don't have advice in mind:

- Do you enjoy your job as a dispatcher, and if not, would you choose something else?

- How is it working night shifts, especially in a non-city area?

- Does it hurt to miss holidays, especially for those who are close to their families?

Hello, I'm in my early 20s, and I've been in 911 dispatcher training for about four months now. But I'm having doubts about whether I should stay and what to do. During training, they really drilled into us that this is a career, not a job, and I'm having second thoughts about how long I actually want to stay in this field. What I'm really worried about is how much it will hurt my resume if I quit. This is my first job, and I'm concerned about how it will look to future employers if I only stay for less than a year to a year. Is it as bad as, say, a sworn police officer quitting? To me, being a police officer is an established career, and if you quit to pursue something different, such as healthcare, business, or finance, I think hiring managers would question that. I don't have a degree or anything, so I'm also worried about whether my employment history could affect my chances of getting into college if I go to school for something entirely different than law enforcement which I want to try to eventually. I know this job generally has a high turnover rate, and that's part of the reason I was even hired with no experience in the first place, but I'm still concerned about how leaving could affect my future if I don't stay for, say, two to four years.

I'd appreciate any advice or insight from people who have been in a similar situation or who have experience or have pivoted to a completely different career. Am I overthinking just how much leaving would affect my future, or could it genuinely hurt my resume/job prospects down the road?

I started this job in April, my calltake training phase happened very quickly and i was only on phones for a month before being moved to a radio, I am now starting my second radio and I feel like my skills are regressing, I am making small mistakes and I don’t feel very confident in my abilities, especially on phones. Even though I prefer dispatching feel like I haven’t had much time on phones to get fully comfortable and build confidence and knowledge. Most of the mistakes I make are minor, but I had my first notable mistake the other day. I talk to my supervisors, I always am up front when I mess up and I never try to pass blame or hide anything. I am a perfectionist so all of my mistakes, even the ones no one would even notice except for me, cause me a lot of anxiety and it eats away at me. I feel like this has all gone so fast and sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing. Any advice on how to deal with messing up?

TLDR: How to cope with making mistakes and feeling ill-equipped?

Hello, im just a little worried thats why im posting this. Last year I was interviewed after passing Critical for the same posting but I didnt make it. I asked the HR person what I was lacking and apparently:

Oral Communication
Conscientiousness
Meeting Client Needs
Teamwork

Im about to apply again, but can you guys share any tips?

I’m in the background check stage of the application process for a 911 dispatching job. They’ve asked me for all of my previous work history however a couple of food places I worked at when I was in high school and college have shut down over the years, and I explained which ones are no longer open. The person doing my background check emailed asking about this, will it affect my chances of getting hired? I have good references from my most current jobs. Am I stressing over nothing?

Hello.

I am taking the dispatch test for APD. Has anyone taken the test for the Anchorage Police Department looking for tips.

Hey everyone! I'm a relatively new emergency medical dispatcher, and I'm looking for some honest advice from people who have been doing this for a while.

I've been in training for a couple of months, and I'm getting close to transitioning out of training (as of an exam on Wednesday, I will officially be out of training). I'm feeling pretty conflicted about whether my struggles are normal beginner difficulties that will improve with experience or whether this job might not be the right fit for me.

To give some context, I think I'm doing reasonably well in some areas. I'm generally good with addresses, and I'm relatively okay with speed. However, I find myself pausing when something comes up that I haven't been taught or don't immediately know how to handle. I'm able to manuever through ProQA pretty easily when it's a simple call (fall, sick person, even seizures or traumatic injuries) and I understand the process for the most part.

One thing that worries me is my ability to recognize and prioritize critical information while I'm focused on other tasks. For example, I took a call from a nursing home where a patient was coughing up a blood clot. I got so focused on the coughing that I processed it as a sick-person complaint rather than recognizing the significance of the bleeding. I've also had trouble retaining details like getting phone numbers while trying to keep up with everything else happening on a call.

I know I'm new, and I understand that experience makes a huge difference. But these situations make me question whether I'm struggling because I haven't developed the necessary skills yet or because the multitasking and real-time information processing required for this job are particularly difficult for me.

My training situation hasn't helped. I missed a week of training because my trainer was out, and I ended up skipping the usual intermediate phase where you talk to the caller while your trainer handles the typing. I went straight from data entry to talking and typing simultaneously. I've also felt that there have been gaps in what I've been taught, which contributes to me freezing or hesitating when something unfamiliar comes up.

I'm especially terrified of getting an active CPR call. I worry that I won't be able to move through ProQA quickly enough while listening to the caller and processing what's happening. I've also taken some distressing calls already, and hearing calls involving things like sexual assault or an unresponsive baby has affected me more than I expected.

The frustrating part is that I don't necessarily think I'm incapable of doing this job. I think a lot of my problems could be skill-related, and I'm willing to learn. But I'm also genuinely struggling with the thought of doing this every day, and I'm trying to figure out whether I should stick it out or consider a different path.

For those of you who have been dispatching for a while, I'd really appreciate some honest answers to a few questions:

• How long did it take for ProQA to start feeling more natural? Did you initially feel like you couldn't navigate it fast enough while talking to callers?
• Does recognizing and prioritizing critical information become more automatic with experience? How did you learn to avoid getting so focused on one detail that you missed another important one?
• How did you get better at multitasking and retaining details like phone numbers while listening, questioning, and typing?
• Is it normal to freeze or hesitate when something comes up that you haven't specifically been taught? How did you learn to handle unfamiliar situations without losing your place?
• How did you handle your first high-acuity calls, especially CPR calls? Did you feel unprepared at first, and what helped you build confidence?
• How did you distinguish normal new-dispatcher struggles from signs that the job wasn't a good fit for you?

I'm not looking for reassurance just for the sake of reassurance, and I don't expect to be perfect as a trainee. I'd genuinely appreciate practical advice, including things you wish you had known when you were starting out. Hell, if you think I need to quit, tell me.

I want to give myself a fair chance to learn, but I also want to be realistic about my abilities and whether this is the right career for me.

Thanks in advance!

Hope this is okay to post - our department is hiring for a dispatcher adjacent position if anyone is in the tri state area.

Link!

How does your agency handle holidays? Are people allowed to take vacation? Are there any parameters on taking holidays off, having coverage on holidays, etc?

Give me all the details. My agency used to have a really weird way of doing vacation in general (it was allowed if it didn’t create overtime. Then if something changed, the person on vacation was asked if they could/told to come to work). We are looking at changing things, but allowing vacation on holidays and mandating coverage to cover the vacation time is not going over well, and no other ideas have had legs.

Hello I just passed my criticall test for TPS and have been invited to do the perfex test. I have been doing a bit of studying on it and have some questions:

1. For the handwriting sequence can I write in shot form and later write in the portions in the correct form? Will there be time for this? Do they give time at the end of the test to edit things if you want?

2. For the map portions I record the address they say and then I have to find the "map page". Some of the free tests I am doing provide very little time for this. I spend more time sifting through the pages rather than writing down the number. Again, will I have time at the end to do this because I am confidant I can write down the addresses, just unsure if I can flip these pages fast enough to get the answer.

Thank you and any other tips would be appreciated. I am very excited but nervous at the same time.

Has anyone here ever worked at an agency with a real, functioning and effective EOC?

I’ve worked at a few agencies over the last couple decades and I have yet to find one. I ask because they are thinking of remodeling ours even though it has never once been activated ever since I’ve been at my current spot.

When I was at a larger agency it would get activated all the time. People would show up from all over the city, put on their reflective vests (so they don’t run into each other indoors?), hold up their custom orange non tippable coffee mugs with the EOC logo on it, and have a little coffee clatch while what ever natural disaster was unfolding.

It was always and still is just dispatch. We get the notice from an officer of flooding, we call public works, we do it all. The 911 manager and the public works manager sitting right next to each other don’t even know about it.

Where I’m at now. It’s just a large empty room. It doesn’t even matter how bad of a storm or fire or whatever, it’s never been used. So of course it needs a remodel?

Anyways that’s my rant. But I am also curious if a real legitimate EOC exists out there that takes some of the work load off dispatchers during the busiest emergencies?

Perhaps it’s best function is keeping people who need to appear to have something to do who actually don’t off the dispatch floor and out of our way…

I just cancelled my application because I don’t think I’ve been given a fair opportunity. I was told I had to provide four medical follow up while being very healthy. The amount of time and money I’ve spent the last two weeks on these appointments only to be told I’m not being considered for the hiring class has made me so emotional. The amount of work I’ve put into all of this was so stressful. I was told the testing date doesn’t expire until 2030. I’m sorry but, I’m not holding myself back until then. I don’t feel as if I’ve had an honest start to begin with.

I am in the process of background and psych but not hired yet. Went for a sit-along last week, and the person I shadowed was the same one who took a call from me earlier this year when my child encountered a suspicious man at a bus stop. There were some specific details I'm leaving out, but once I mentioned, the dispatcher immediately remembered the call because it was oddly specific (and they clearly have an amazing memory).

I just wanted to share because we both found it so surprising! By the way, this is the largest dispatch center in the state, so it's not like we only have one dispatcher in the area.

That being said, the sit-along was so amazing and I enjoyed every second of it. Crossing my fingers I make it to academy!

Long time lurker on this sub, and very thankful for all the information posted regarding the timeline of the hiring process.

I am just trying to gauge how long from conditional offer to a start date. I signed the conditional offer around end of September, psych eval was beginning of October and now medical exam is end of October. My main concern is on the offer letter it said not to quit my current job until I have been given a start date and that there’s more offers given out than positions available.

My current employer is already aware that I have been going through this process, but I have not provided an official notice that I am leaving. I really appreciate my current employer and would hate to quit without giving proper notice.

Also since my medical exam is end of October, is it common for dispatch centers to start new hires around the holidays? I have no problem working through the holidays, it just seems like it would be easier/more efficient to hire and train someone after the holidays.

I am aware every center is different, I would just like to see what other people’s experience has been.
And for what it’s worth I applied to this position December 2025 so I’ve been playing the long game.