The Challenge: Ensure Every Call is Answered
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office 911 dispatch center is located in Plymouth, Minnesota, and takes emergency calls for 39 of the 45 cities in the county. The center is currently staffed with about 50 dispatchers, but as the county’s population grows and the number of emergency service calls continues to rise after a post-pandemic lull – growing at a rate of 4% a year – the county has sought to recruit additional dispatchers. In 2023, Hennepin County dispatchers handled around 300,000 emergency calls and 400,000 administrative calls.
“Being a 911 dispatcher is a very challenging job where every second counts, requiring operators to be highly skilled with technology, adept at managing highly stressful situations, and willing to work long hours. In addition to these challenges, pay is also a barrier to recruitment,” affirmed Ty Wooten, the Director of Government Affairs for the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. This non-profit develops 911 call center protocols for 58 different countries around the world.
Nationwide Shortage
As a result of these challenges, 911 dispatch centers across the country are facing a serious staffing shortfall. “We are at a crisis point across the country, and on average, our survey showed that many centers are running with a 20% deficit in adequate staffing, and at many others, it’s even more dire with up to 50% of dispatcher positions open,” Ty shared.
Notwithstanding the reward from doing a job that can quite literally mean the difference between life and death, many dispatch centers continue to struggle to find qualified applicants.
Breaking New Ground
“Historically we attracted people who were drawn to government and federal jobs, but the current environment has made positions like these not as desirable as before,” said Tony Martin, Director of Emergency Communications at the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. “Generally speaking, about 20% of the population can work well in a stressful job like this, and about 10% already have jobs and aren’t looking, so it’s all about trying to find those unicorns that can do it.”
Recruitment efforts have been underway since the Hennepin County Board of Supervisors approved nearly $90,000 for a staffing study to determine how many people it will take to ensure someone picks up the call when residents dial 911. Director Martin shared that his department has undertaken an aggressive recruitment campaign. In addition to utilizing traditional media and outreach to educational institutions, the Hennepin County dispatch center is actively pursuing a younger cohort through channels such as TikTok and other social media platforms that will reach tech-savvy online gamers.
Social Media
“Social media has opened up channels of communication we never would have had access to before,” Tony shared. “It has in many ways forced us to get up to date on new trends and enable us to pursue new demographics, specifically the younger generations and gamers who are very adept with technology and can be readily brought up to speed with customer service and specialized training to provide them with the skills that will make them effective dispatchers.”
An Unexpected Turn of Events
Jayme Beerling’s story highlight how sometimes a pre-determined career path can take surprising turns. “I never planned on being a 911 dispatcher,” Jayme said. “I had finished a master’s degree in theater and was headed to Broadway when the pandemic hit and the world shut down. I then moved home to Minnesota, and while hunting for work, I took a pre-application exam that set me on a path to my job as a public safety telecommunicator with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. It’s a very stressful job, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. For me the most memorable call is one that has a happy ending. I have the immense privilege of speaking to people on the worst day of their life and I get to be the calm and guiding voice for them.”
Training
Training to become a 911 dispatch center operator involves classroom instruction and hands-on experience. Entry- level training equips dispatchers with the basic skills that include basic core competencies, telecommunications, first aid/CPR/AED, critical incidence stress, and on-the-job training. Operators can then move up to acquire more specialized training in emergency dispatch, emergency telecommunicator certification, and disaster operations, and international protocols.
Taylor Ubl, a new hire at the Hennepin County Sherriff’s Office, shared her experience: “It’s a lot of information to take in! But it’s true what they say: Sometimes the hardest jobs are often the most rewarding. I have to admit it’s a bit intimidating at first, but I know I’m making a difference in my community and I’m helping people.”
Seeing Results
“I can definitely say that things are going pretty well on the recruitment front now,” Tony Martin affirmed. “Our efforts to attract new people from different demographics are definitely paying off. Our training program is at full capacity right now and we currently have a class underway with eight new students. The bottom line at the end of the day is quite simple – we just want to make sure there are always enough dispatchers to pick up when citizens call in for help.”
Success with Diversification
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s office is in good company, as many other police departments and first responders across the country are finding that recruiting through new and unconventional channels is proving to be a sound strategy that yields excellent results. By simply diversifying the candidate pool and tapping in to new avenues to find qualified candidates has opened robust and successful staff recruitment pipelines.