A New Career For 9-1-1 Trainers

Edwards Deming died in 1986, but not before he wrote a boring (but profound) book titled Out Of Crisis. It wasn’t written for Emergency Communications, but by changing a few words here and there, it could have been. I wouldn’t recommend the book, but his ageless wisdom quotes hit home.

“Often it is important to differentiate between problems caused by the system and problems outside of the system.” 

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”  

In Out of Crisis, he also asserts,   “Long-term commitment to new learning and new philosophy is required of any management that seeks transformation. The timid and the fainthearted, and the people that expect quick results, are doomed to disappointment.”    Hiring shortages, budget crunches, training challenges, retention problems – you search for transformation and quick results, but neither appears on your doorstep, no matter how many consultants, studies, and good-intentioned changes happen.  Although hiring, training and retention troubles aren’t exclusive to emergency communications, however, other occupations have one fix that isn’t often available to our frazzled management.  Let’s say your county HR is looking to fill a position for secretary, bookkeeper, IT or maintenance – where do they go?  Who is qualified, experienced, trained, knows they want to work in their field and will stay? The answer is, people who have graduated from college courses in that occupation.

A Daunting Prediction 

When a 9-1-1 agency searches for candidates, an ad is placed in the newspaper or on the web.  Hopes are high for applicants who can transform past skills and experience into this work.  A great deal of effort is invested in finding the right person who has the capacity to grasp the complexity of this work.  And you ask if they will ‘fit in’ and survive the training and be prepared for shift work.  This is a daunting and lengthy prediction process for both the applicant and the agency.  However, this is our plight because, besides hiring laterals, how do you find someone who possesses phone and radio skills and understands the work?  In an ideal world, every candidate would submit with their application a tape of an emergency call they handled, or possibly a pursuit.  Or maybe before you hire them, they can work a simulated two-alarm fire, and you can evaluate their CAD printout. Or in a perfect world, they would bring to you their attendance records and an evaluation of their social skills.   Yes, all this is not only possible but also being done by areas that have 9-1-1 college vocational courses.

Ageless Wisdom For Us

In 1799 Napoleon invaded Rome and George Lichtenberg wrote, “Once we know our weakness, they cease to do us any harm.”  Wouldn’t it be great if that were true?  Once upon a time our weaknesses were the sorry old perception of the work as being lesser than a profession and that we all do it different – we are and we don’t.  These are historical thinking that has slowed the process of offering college training for this industry.  And if George were asked how important college training is for emergency communications, he may say,  “I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.” just as he did then.   For certain, change would have to happen to have a legion of learned and willing college recruits coming to you with tapes and evaluations in hand.  

Blame the Systems?

Deming might ask, “Is the lack of qualified candidates who can survive and thrive in this profession a problem caused from within the comm center system or from outside the system?”  Might he find both?  Internal, such as crowded radio channels, lack of uniformity in learning, exhaustive overtime requirements, untrained and overworked trainers and supervisors, and micromanagement by leaders who rightfully fear liability.  Externally, he might find an inaccurate perception of the work, better-paying jobs requiring less personal sacrifice, or budget constraints imposed by elected officials.  Quite possibly, according to ‘Deming 7 Deadly Diseases’, we might say all problems within and from the outside are indeed correctable from within.  

Chicken Or Egg

Consultants know their clients have all the answers they seek.  What Consultants do is extract and present the answers to their clients who ‘know’ but seem to be unable to bring the SEE to BE without either assistance or corroboration. I’m not sure who Anon is, or if he or she is alive or dead, but Anon quite aptly understood outstanding leadership by saying,  “Remember, people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold — but so does a hard-boiled egg.”   This article does not contain any new revelations; it’s common sense.  Suppose there is a place for people to pay their own money to receive training in emergency call taking, emergency radio, CAD, writing narratives, and other aspects of the work. In that case, your agency will reap the rewards. But you may wonder how to bring the SEE to Be and persuade the college in your area to offer such a course to your citizens.  Since this article strives to provide less intent and more accomplishment, here are your first 5 action steps.

Step 1:  It begins with YOU. Write a letter to every college in your area that articulates the need for this program.  Include flyers and course outlines from other emergency communications college courses[1].

Step 2: Call the colleges and request the name and title of the person responsible for new programs. Send your documents to that person.

Step 3, 4, and 5:  Follow up with a phone call, do whatever is necessary, and believe that it will happen.

Only One More

Yesterday, a former student sent me a note.  She hadn’t seen me in 10 years but just wanted me to know that she was a Comm Center Supervisor, married a police officer (go figure), and was teaching a call-taking course at a local college. Not only does college training provide citizens a leg up into a great career, but it also allows 9-1-1 professionals to advance in education that they might not have had otherwise. Teaching at a college is not only fun, it’s rewarding financially, personally, and professionally.  If you want to provide leadership in your industry, please consider contacting your local colleges to offer your services and establish an advisory board. You will learn and grow, and there are no limits to the personal rewards.  And if you will allow one more quote from Gandhi, “Have a bias toward action – let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.”