911 Dispatch Staffing: Recruitment and Retention Challenges

Introduction: Why 911 Dispatch Staffing Matters

One of the most difficult tasks any employer faces is staffing. Businesses cannot operate efficiently until they are properly staffed and their personnel are adequately trained for the positions they are expected to fulfill. While businesses can face hardships — including loss of revenue — if they are not properly staffed, there is another field in which a lack of proper staffing can spell disaster, including loss of property and human life. The staffing needs and issues surrounding 911 dispatch personnel can create serious public safety concerns, which is why it is vitally important to maintain constant oversight of the staffing needs of public safety departments.

Workforce 2010 and the Changing Labor Landscape

Workforce 2010 means different things in different contexts, but for the most part it is a concept developed to discuss and determine what the changing personnel needs will be during the first decade of the new millennium. In short, the concept addresses globalization, the importance of retaining staff, and the costs and factors associated with training those staff members — all of which make retention especially critical. In the field of public safety, the need for trained and qualified emergency management and 911 dispatch personnel cannot be overstated, as members of this team are responsible for the safety and well-being of the communities they serve. It is important to use appropriate staffing models and directives to fill positions, while ensuring that proper training and retention incentives are in place.

While the labor pool and general population are aging, people are working longer, living longer, and enjoying much healthier lives. Conversely, the birthrate is at a historic low. According to Helton (2004), the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that while the youngest workers (ages 16 to 24) are increasing by 15%, this decade will also witness the children of baby boomers — those aged 25 to 34 — entering the workforce at just half that rate. The employable workforce population between 35 and 44 years of age is actually declining. The overall national rate of workforce growth faces a sharp drop: after peaking at nearly 30% in the 1970s (as the baby boomers, along with unprecedented numbers of women, entered the workforce), and holding relatively steady at 12% during the 1990s and into the present decade, the rate is projected to drop and level off at 2% to 3% per decade thereafter. This translates into an annual growth rate of less than 1% today and an anemic 0.2% by 2020 (Helton, 2004).

This demographic data is critical to understanding the staffing challenges facing 911 dispatch centers, as it signals a future employee shortage that must be anticipated and proactively planned for. Workforce planning through a Workforce 2010 framework is essential to prevent bottlenecks and staffing gaps in trained 911 dispatch positions as baby boomers retire and younger workers move through the ranks (Helton, 2004).

The National Shortage of 911 Dispatch Personnel

A recent case study on the recruitment and retention of public employees in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania — a state with approximately 75,000 state or government employees, many of whom are 911 dispatch personnel — documented these trends in a concrete regional context (Helton, 2004). One of the core problems with staffing and retaining 911 dispatch operators is the high turnover rate, which makes it difficult to maintain a consistently well-trained workforce capable of handling incoming calls.

In his article examining 911 center staffing, Barry Furey explores the staffing issues that have been plaguing the field in recent years. He notes: "Adequate staffing has long been a fire service concern. Whether it involves the number of career firefighters assigned to ladder and engine companies, or the ability of suburban and rural communities to recruit adequate numbers of volunteers to provide protection, having enough people to do the job is a universal issue" (Furey, 2005).

Furey further observes that for at least the past decade, a lack of personnel has had a significant — though often less publicly visible — impact on emergency communications centers, contributing to rapid burnout among dispatchers and creating the potential for delayed emergency responses. Throughout North America, public safety agencies report continuing shortages in telecommunicators. One department responding to a survey conducted by Furey advised that while its authorized strength was 14 dispatchers, it was operating with only five — a shortage of more than 50% that had persisted for at least six years (Furey, 2005).

The consequences of such shortages are straightforward: "Where there are more phones to answer than people to answer them, somebody is going to have to wait. And the fewer people there are to answer, the longer that wait is going to be" (Furey, 2005).

Conclusion

The staffing needs and problems of 911 emergency dispatch personnel are unique in that a shortage of staff or inadequate training can mean the difference between life and death. It is therefore vital to recruit and retain the best employees possible. Experts in the field believe that word-of-mouth referrals and having potential employees shadow current dispatchers are two effective methods for combating the high turnover rates currently experienced in the field.

In addition, efforts should be made to reduce the rotation of shift schedules, improve compensation and career recognition, and encourage candidates to view the position as a long-term career rather than a temporary job. As demographic shifts reduce the size of the available labor pool in coming decades, proactive workforce planning grounded in frameworks like Workforce 2010 will become increasingly essential to sustaining effective emergency communications infrastructure across the country.