The last leg of training is learning how to fire dispatch. After that trainees return to the classroom for two weeks for more academy time learning how to be a dispatcher. The initial step to training begins in a classroom setting, then with a Certified Training Officer (CTO) in a live environment for 10-12 weeks. New employees can expect to train anywhere from nine to 12 months before they are working independently. The center is currently approved for 109 dispatcher positions and is actively hiring to fill its 15 vacancies. “It ’s a very regimented, protocol-driven, medical system that we use and in their first phase of training they ’re certified as a medical dispatcher, ” said Schweitzer. The three disciplines in which Schweitzer trains dispatchers is 911 call taking, emergency medical or police dispatching, and fire dispatching, using specific protocols and standards to give life-saving interventions. “You could go to NorCom and you’d get a different story, South Sound – different story.” “That’s just the way we operate here every 911 center is different,” s aid Schweitzer. Similar to Operations Managers, Supervisors are not placed into normal, every day, staffing, typically only receiving backup emergency calls, dispatch as needed, or in overtime hours, Schweitzer explained, although they do possess the skills to fill in on calls and radio when needed. It’s one of her favorite memories in her career so far aside from being able to help people in the worst moments of their lives while providing critical life-saving instructions.Īs one of three Operations Managers at the dispatch center, Schweitzer’s primary role is training new employees, although she said training is “only probably 25% of job just because wears a lot of hats.” Administrative staff, into which Operations Manager falls, do not contractually accept emergency calls or dispatch. While Schweitzer was working as a supervisor, she had the privilege of working closely with Snohomish County Search and Rescue to find and help rescue people who were lost in the wilderness or waterways. Hattie Schweitzer has been working at the center since 1996, beginning as a dispatcher for the first 15 years of her career, before working her way up to supervisor and eventually Operations Manager – a title she’s held for the last six years. To look back and to say wow I ’ve really impacted a lot of lives. ![]() “It ’s immediately gratifying to be able to help somebody so quickly and to help so many people over the lifespan of a career. It ’s never dull in that even if you ’re not talking on the radio or taking a 911 call, you always have your team around you that you can talk to and work with – the team atmosphere definitely drew me in, ” said Hattie Schweitzer, Operations Manager at Snohomish County 911. EVERETT, Wash., June 14, 2023-The Snohomish County 911 dispatch center is Washington state’s largest 911 center by volume, area, and population served, handling an average 2,031 incoming calls or texts for emergency service a day – roughly one call every 42 seconds.
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