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Training
Most
employees of the Rochester-Monroe County Emergency Communications
Department begin their careers as either Telecommunicator (TCC)
or Public Safety Dispatcher (PSD) trainees.
 The
TCC trainees begin by attending an Association of Public-Safety
Communications Officials (APCO) approved 30 day course intended
to immerse the student in the 911 center and its policies and also
to familiarize them with the basic functions of the job. They are
given a basic outline of what is expected of them by the city and
taught basic phone answering skills, interview techniques and general
customer service. They are also instructed in Computer Aided Dispatch
(CAD), the system that aids the TCC and Dispatchers in entering
and prioritizing calls for Police / Fire / EMS dispatch.
The
classroom starts out by the trainees meeting each other and getting
acquainted with the building and their new surroundings. As the
first week progresses they are familiarized with the equipment and
start to learn the rules and regulations. We follow the APCO course
outline, and augment and enhance the course with our style and how
we do things at the ECD. During the second and third weeks the students
are familiarizing themselves with the policies and procedures of
the ECD.
This
can be pretty dry material, but mixed with role playing and watching
a seasoned veteran operate makes things more exciting. During the
last week most of the time is spent with the other students simulating
and entering events into a test system so they can get the feel
of what it's like to do the job. They also listen to old calls and
enter information from those to further their learning experience.
After this they are ready to go and meet with their first round
trainer to get on-the-job experience.
After
the thirty day classroom training the operators are assigned to
a trainer. The trainer is an experienced ECD employee; one who understands
the policies and procedures of the department plus is familiar and
comfortable with the intricacies of the job. New trainees will stay
with the trainer for approximately 30 days then rotated between
2 more trainers for a total of 60 more days. Depending on how the
trainee is doing they may be certified to work by themselves after
a second round or if there is a need for further training they may
go into a fourth round.
A
Public Safety Dispatcher I receives the same training as a TCC with
the exception of only going on for one round of phone training.
Following this first acquaintance with the 911 phone system the
PSD trainee goes back into class for another month to learn the
skills needed to work either the police, fire or EMS frequencies.
The classroom training for a PSD is very intense. In class the trainee
learns radio procedure (the rules and regulations set up by the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that we must observe at
all times), police, fire or EMS procedures, all the applicable policies
and procedures for the eleven police agencies that we serve, learn
about the networks that link all the agencies in the county, state
and country together and how to use them to assist a police officer
when needed and more CAD skills as required. After the month of
class training, the PSD is assigned to a trainer, following the
same pattern as the TCC: 1 month per trainer, usually a total of
3 months in training.
The
Public Safety Dispatcher II is a dual dispatcher. While in the classroom
the PSD II brings their knowledge of either police or fire/EMS procedures
and supplement that with cross training on the discipline they need
to perform any operational duties while working at 911. For example,
if a PSD I (Police) successfully completes the promotional PSD II
exam, then the training will encompass all fire/EMS details or vice
versa. PSD II (Fire/EMS) trainees expand their knowledge of FCC
rules about radio transmission and CAD skills that are important
to their job. They also take a course and learn about CAMEO, a system
of software applications used widely to plan for and respond to
chemical emergencies.
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