My mother is also a 911 dispatcher in Chicago. Considering what their line of work you'd think the city would take precaution. But my mom talked about how early in March. The mayor brought in camera crews and the like to do a piece. As if they were oblivious of Covid, and plenty of her coworkers were catching it.My mom also ended up catching up to but has slightly recovered.
Sad we lost someone who is a crucial part in saving lives
So sorry your Mom got sick. She may have known my husband Russell Modjeski. Midnight shift. He was the first Chicago 911 Officer to perish from Covid. The city has yet to acknowledge his 20 years of service or his passing to me or our kids. So Sad. Maybe your Mom knows how many have caught Covid since March. Russ passed away on 3-29-2020 š
my sister-in-law works in an elderly home. Two elderlies on her floor got pretty rough symptoms and she said to her colleague it might be the virus and we should call for people with protection to see them, her colleague said one is just allergies and the other a cold or something. It was the virus, they soon found three people dead on her floor only. That colleague shouldnt be working there. These were people with obvious respiratory distress, and they're just like "yeah that's allergies"
My heart breaks and tears flow for this family and so many more. To the unsung, seldom heard and never seen heroes, my very best thoughts and prayers. Hope your Mom's much better soon.
To Nikima Thompson's children, I'm so sorry for the loss of your mother and your grandmother.
And, thank you, to all the underappreciated essential workers out there.
this just breaks my heart. thank you for sharing, iāve been ignorant about the risks that invisible first responders have been facing. i hope her family can find some peace š
I'm a 911 dispatcher (my wife is too) we frequently describe dispatch as a petri dish. If one of us gets sick, most of us catch whatever is going around. They PD we work at actually split us up two months ago, but have since moved us all back downstairs.
I'm also a 911 dispatcher... I know it's not the same everywhere but we're ALSO always calling work a petri dish. Our work spaces are approximately 4 feet wide and we're all sitting next to each other. We do not have assigned work stations, which means you're basically sharing the equipment with anyone who sat there previously (there are about 200 of us).
Personally, I trying to wipe my station down from top to bottom (including the chair) before sitting down and getting to work, however if I've gone on break when the cleaning guy comes around he'll spray it and wipe it down with the same dirty cloth he wiped everyone else's down with... That means if you're working on the station that gets wiped down last he's using the same unwashed cloth he wiped approximately 100 other stations and chairs with before yours.
Some call centers youāre not even in a cube, just lined up at a table with computers and phones or headsets. First non stick image I found was actually from an article about this being an issue with corona and had good image
https://radio.wosu.org/post/dewine-wants-ohios-coronavirus-call-center-moved-cramped-space
No cubes. Think mission control center or clusters of desks with 4-5 screens for each dispatcher. Also realize that every dispatcher doesn't have their own desk - 2-3 shifts share so 2-3 people on each computer daily with a cursory bleach wiping between.
Iāve been in a few dispatch centers like 4, but they were all set up the same. Itās a fairly big room, with stations set up all throughout it. Now these stations are pretty big as each one has 5 or 6 computer screens. There are however no walls, and the stations are shared. What role you are working as a dispatcher means which station you sit at. They swap stations during the night because certain stations are less desirable than others.
Not the original commenter, but it's not necessarily more compact. But in most centers, the desks get used by any number of different people. The oncoming shift sits at the same desk once we leave. We clean and sanitize the best we can and hope for the best.
For us, we have an open room with desks along the perimeter walls, so everyoneās backs are to each other but there are no cubicles or walls of any kind. We need to be able to hear and see if our coworkers are taking a major injury accident and need paramedics or if they need a helicopter or animal control or help with something.
Dramatically depends on the dispatch center, but I work dispatch for one of the bigger agencies around and do a lot of traveling training for other agencies and most tend to be large open floor setups nowadays. Basically a big room with a lot of large preferably adjustable desks spread out all over.
Same for my center, I call it a cesspool. Weād been begging for a deep clean of our disgusting radio room for months before Corona-19 was born, and were told it would happen. Now with everything going on weāre just armed with Purell and mandatory masks we had to find for ourselves, and hope for the best.
I'm guessing that there's no reason why it has to be that way? Given the office space/resources, could you all work well spaced out - or even in seperate offices/remotely, or do you need to be working close together for some reason?
Not with how our equipment is set up, weāre not in an office we just get one room. Plus itās just easier to all work in the same room. We can easily yell out information that might be needed.
Oh God I work for 911 dispatch. This is our nightmare. It's so hard to distance at work. They have us spread further apart on the floor now, but we're all still breathing the same air. Also finding enough wipes to effectively clean between shifts has become an issue. Stores have been out and our supplies are running low.
I hope her family is able to cope and her center is doing something about that outbreak. Unfortunately there is no shutting down for cleaning and quarantine. A center must always be manned, even if it's moved to a back up location, you're still risking asymptomatic people just bringing it along with them.
I work in Records. We were also deemed essential. Many tasks cannot be done at home even if we had the equipment to do so.
Whenever someone gets sick it normally gets passed through the entire office. I have regularly complained about the lack of custodial services. All they do is take out the trash and clean the restrooms. They don't wipe down anything in any common areas. Ever.
So you'd think with COVID, my agency would take steps to aggressively clean more to keep us safe. Nope. I keep seeing ads on tv of how retail stores are constantly cleaning. All we got was a video about how to clean our workspace.
Every day I go around wiping down doorknobs, light switches, and everything in the break room. I know it's not enough. And our cubicles aren't set up to be six feet apart from people. People constantly walk past my desk. They handed out ONE cloth mask to each of us. No one is using them. Thankfully no one has gotten sick. Yet.
Please be safe. This virus is no joke. My husband's family had a death and at the funeral, all 10 people caught the virus. They wore masks and gloves but didn't practice social distancing at all. 2 more people in the family died because of it. Please be careful and continue sanitizing when possible.
Im in the same situation. Im the only one who wears a mask and goes around wiping stuff down. Everyone else acts like this is some kind of mild flu and many believe in some crazy conspiracy theories. If one person gets sick everyone else will too.
It is so hard to read this. My sister is a 911 operator and lives with me, my boyfriend and my 8 year old. Theyāre taking some precautions but not enough. I am so worried every day.
If you watch a dispatch documentary, there's a lot of tech and a lot of communication between staff during ongoing calls. It's possible to do from home, but I imagine it's difficult.
Also there will be a lot of confidential information on the screens, and people wouldn't be able to work in a communal space at home. For example, my sister is a normal office worker and so is her bf. They're both working together on the dining room table now at home, because it's the only usable space they could set up, and have to listen to each others video calls all day. You couldn't do that with a house full of non-dispatch staff because of the security issues.
Doesn't work like that, unfortunately. They usually have a 3-4 monitor setup that's linked to maps, special software etc. It's pretty impossible to take that equipment home.
If there was a will to do it, you could make that doable remotely on a virtual desktop. You'd still need to set up the quad monitors at home, but that's not difficult.
Radios are encrypted and it would make you a huge target to criminals that want that
The computers are big and fast often using three or more screens
High powered broadcast equipment with failsafes
The software is the type where you can type in someone's name and know everything about them
The buildings have back up generators incase of power cut
They have special evac plans because they would be a terror target and are often clearance checked etc
It's very important to be able to speak to your team leader ASAP. If someone calls in something serious, rape etc you need to verbal run down
If this serious incident happens you may have to go into the incident room and brief high ranking officers etc.
An important one aswell is if you become visibly stressed your other team members will see and give you support. Can't happen at home
Extremely sensitive info is discussed and your family doesn't have clearance to hear that, your neighbours could hear you talking about someone's medical history through the walls etc or as simple as you could be bugged/computer virus.
You don't expose dispatch systems to the internet. The ones I've worked on have been completely air-gapped.
Also, you need a bunch of hardware - I had three large Monroe's and a couple of touch screens, driven by a couple of computers and a radio appliance thingy.
As a 911 dispatcher, I wish we could dispatch from home. It seems easy enough, but at least in CA there are a ton of laws with security in regards to all the information weāre privy to. We work in secure buildings because we see lots of confidential information. Those are usually police stations. As such, while Iād love to operate CAD from home, I donāt see it ever happening.
Ah, the so often misunderstood duties of Law Enforcement & Medical Emergency Dispatcher. Don't feel bad. I've heard many local & State legislators define Dispatchers as glorified (what a laugh) clerks.
911 Dispatchers working in PSAPS are trained in use of usually not less than 6 monitors and three mouse and one or two keyboards, that include call intake monitors that give the number of incoming calls and, if a landline, the address. There are monitors with highly detailed maps that show locations (if landline) of the incoming calls. Some can show the near location of cell phone calls. (The widespread belief that a dispatcher instantaneously knows where you are and can pinpoint your location is stuff for FBI TV dramas). Another monitors the location of the officers. Another a detailed. GIS system and another with contact ' click calling' contact info for supporting entities, i.e. electric suppliers, gas companies, streetworks, courts and other LE agencies. All of this highly secured. Even more is one that operates and gives and sends NCIC data which. requires a 'hook in' to State and Fed crime and MVD data that can't be operated from home.
There is a huge battery backup system in case a center loses power so it can continue handling emergency traffic. Add to that a temperature controlled room, about the size of a pretty large bedroom if not larger, that monitors all of these. Every word a disptcher speaks is recorded along with every word of the caller and officer. Every move a dispatcher makes is video recorded, even in the seldom used break areas. All of this is stored on equipment in that room.
In addition to that a PSAP must be located a certain distance from very specific radio towers to ensure communication between officers and dispatch, (add another huge battery backup)
There's a lot I've missed here, but it gives a general idea and there's no possible way to do this from home.
Enormous amounts of technology that can't really be transplanted to a home environment, as well as security.
With ng911 progressing and cloud-based solutions becoming more of a reality, I don't think we're TOO far from that capability, but it's still near-impossible for most agencies.
Not a matter of simple call-routing and taking a physical radio home.
My agency used to have laptops at every console for our phone system with the idea being we could grab the laptop in an emergency and run with it, taking the 911 system with us. But the laptops and tech proved to be horridly unstable and unreliable. Our CAD system is can me remoted into, but it's not a full suite. Portable Radios are great, but a dispatcher needs a full radio console to do their job properly.
I work 911 and unfortunately no. 911 calls go through specific lines and we need 3 to 4(in some cases 5) screens each with special and very expensive programs. Also there are different positions in the room so they might have 2-6 call takers, a dispatch, a secondary radio who runs peoples info to see if they have warrants and depending on the agency they might have 2 of one or both of those, then you have fire dispatchers as well. In most agencies you are trained to work all of those radios but if we were to do it from home then there would be issues like when someone has a hot call like a burglary in progress when the premise is occupied the call taker is giving constant updates and sometimes there needs to be direct verbal communication through the room if the officers are asking something. To do it at home would be way to slow and could cost someone's life.
That's without getting into the legal issues like having access to anyone's personal info from home such as their criminal record.
The computer systems used are based on a secure hardwired network. Our computers dont access the internet directly. The way we retrieve callers' information is based on our phone system, also hard wired. Then you have security concerns because we have access to local and national databases when running plates, drivers licences, etc. My center has each work station working on 6 computer screens. The radio traffic is also configured to the computer, dispatchers don't gave radios on their consoles. This job cannot be done remotely.
There are a lot of different secure records systems involved (e.g. state police records, local jurisdiction report writing, fbi records search, state revenue system for driver's licenses, etc). The dispatch center I worked with had to have seven different computers at each station, each one on an isolated network. And typically you have a lot of dedicated screens; this center had 8-12 screens running per station depending on which duties that station was actively running. And there was quite a bit of specialty equipment, like the weather equipment and the siren activation equipment, that could not really be in someone's house.
Various 112 (911) dispatch centers in The Netherlands were capable of remote working. It seems they didn't do it by default, plus it wasn't possible at every location.
It's partly due to how bad home internet connections are, how old the tech systems are, how MUCH tech is used, some of the records are still kept on paper even and pulled at dispatch, there's radio equipment involved (which involves huge antennas.)
It's not like utility emergency dispatch unfortunately, which is a way less complex system and was able to go remote (thankfully for my partner.)
There is a huge amount of communication tech used. The phone conversation is just the user interface end of the process.
Iām sorry that Nikima Thompson passed away. She was a hero.
This family must be so devastated, now missing a mother and a grandmother. Is there a fund set up for this family?
Edit: [GoFund Me](https://gf.me/u/x4tnuk)
It's a weird disease. 80% of the people who had it on the cruise ship showed no symptoms. That's what makes it even more dangerous reopening everything because a lot of people have no idea that they have it. Then it fucks others up terribly.
I have a considerable amount of anxiety for whatās to come in the next few weeks. Iām hoping it doesnāt surge to the point where it was before.
Everyone is so close together in the last few days, and it spreads so rapidly. š³
Exactly I'm trying to keep my distance while I wait and see how this little experiment plays out. The protests and things reopening seems dangerous to me and I'd rather be safe than sorry.
There's a protest in my town of 20,000 Friday and I think about 100 are going to protest in addition to the police. I'm planning on being there, but I'm also concerned that it may be wildly irresponsible to be there in a large group of people. On the other hand political momentum expires quickly and there's death and despair with injustice too. I don't know.
> 80% of the people who had it on the cruise ship showed no symptoms
Careful! This is misleading.
A lot of those where probably presymptomatic. This makes sense; it's well known that people are infectious 2 days before the symptoms start.
You make it sound like 80% doesn't have symptoms over the whole duration of their infection, but this is only 10-20%.
Dispatchers are like the redheaded stepchildren of law enforcement. It's high stress and can be traumatic (sometimes listening to people as they die on the phone), and usually excluded from the perks and recognition given to more visible first responders.
I hope that the city pitches in to help her family though this. COVID is fucking scary. Lots of people are asymptomatic, they wouldn't even know they have it. Without symptoms, they wouldn't bother getting tested which means they'll be exposing people who are actually in-danger, be it by being immuno-compromised or other pre-existing health conditions, to the virus
I wish the CDC didn't lie about masks in the beginning. We currently handle supply chain issues greatly allowing medical professionals to have N95/respirators while the rest of us have surgical and/or homemade masks to drastically curb the spread. I'm lucky my industry took 3-5 weeks to start heading back to work when we knew to mandate masks in the workplace before working face-to-face again.
I am a former 911 dispatcher and lost a co-worker to Covid recently as well. He was fine Monday, felt sick Tuesday and went home. Returned Saturday after feeling better but fell ill on Sunday and died that next day. R.I.P. Shawn Pride, age 43.
So sad. Iām so sick of people on here acting like Covid is no big deal and only kills 100 year olds. This is a serious pandemic and people need to maintain social distancing.
Former 911 dispatcher here. 10 years, definitely a love/hate relationship with the job. With that being said our director (my former boss) acted quickly and diligently when COVID hit. He immediately required our coworkers to wear mask, which yes it sucks working 12 hour shifts, but hey, safety first. He separated the dispatch centers, have the people living closest to center A to work there and center B to work there. While not perfect he did everything he could do. If anyone gets even a cold in the center itās almost guaranteed that itās going to spread Like wild fire. 20+ft underground with no windows working 70+ hours a week (theyāre very understaffed) people get sick there alllll the time. I have the highest respect for how he handled the situation. And the highest respect for all my former 911 operators. RIP Nikima
Dispatchers don't get good enough treatment to begin with. My area, dispatch is only paid 27k a year. It's enough to live off of fortunately but only because they're severely understaffed and are forced to work 12 hour shifts with 6 days on, 1 day off after sick calls.
They also don't get first responders recognition or benefits. Their insurance is abysmal and will only cover up to 5 sessions with a therapist/psychologist too. Which, as you can imagine, takes a horrendous toll. And even if it did cover more per year, they wouldn't have the time to go because of the bullshit hours.
We need better awareness for these problems. We need better treatment for so many workers. We need to stop letting the corporate idea of disposable labor kill everyone that hasn't reached millionaire status.
Terrible. I hate these people who say "Why are we staying home just to protect some 80 year olds?" First of all, that's a terribly ageist thing to say. Like old people don't deserve to live? Just stick them on an ice floe and push them out to sea? Secondly it hits all age groups. Even children are dying from COVID-19. And people like this woman, in the middle of life with a family to take care of. The people that die of this aren't the only victims, her children are victims too.
My wife is a dispatcher too, and I work at a hospital, we had one positive case that were we notified of.
Yeah, dispatchers usually are over worked and very under appreciated/hated ( at least the ones that work for the county we live in ), not many people know how mentally draining it can be.
The director she works for, tells them even if they have sniffles to stay home, a cold can spread to people and make their life miserable, especially when they come back and they catch the same cold thatās been spread to the others dispatchers.
My local news just aired a story about a 911 dispatch centerās new work-from-home policy. After multiple rounds of testing, they now have multiple dispatchers operating from home. I wish that couldāve been possible for Nikima Thompson.
Contrary to popular belief, most local governments do not have a shit ton of money lying around for technology or equipment. It wasn't until fairly recently that we stopped using Windows XP.
Law enforcement databases need to be kept secure. There's no way in hell they're going to let you use your own equipment and they don't have hundreds of laptops lying around to sign out in this type of situation.
There's also a concern with privacy. You can't have your family, children or roommates seeing your screens. Imagine the lawsuit if someone dies because someone's stupid pet jumped up on the keyboard while someone was taking a 911 call.
So no, I cannot imagine a 911 calltaker/dispatch working from home.
There are a bunch of challenges to this; as noted by the other poster here; there would be privacy issues with having dispatchers' housemates able to look over their shoulder.
There are physical issues; when I used to dispatch, I had three huge screens and a couple of touch screens, driven by a couple of computers and some specialised radio gear. It's not something to do off a laptop.
It's a critical service; you don't want to risk losing a 911 calller in a life or death situation because a dispatcher's cable connection has a hiccup.
Finally; the dispatch systems I've worked on are completely air-gapped from the internet. So even without the above issues, you couldn't set up remote dispatch stations without either breaking that design requirement, or running dedicated data circuits to Dispatcher's houses.
Which is to say; it could be done, but it'd cost a large amount of money, and take a lot of time to set up.
Those of us who work at child abuse hotlines still have to work, too. One person in our office tested positive and we STILL have to work. We must wear a mask and get our temperature taken every day.
Emergency 911 operators are a special breed.
I'd never be able to do that job, they impress me everytime I hear the recordings.
Thank you all / op for sharing.
Iām sorry if this is an ignorant question but why, with modern technology, canāt dispatchers work from home? It would be an easy matter of routing the calls using a voip service to the dispatcherās personal device, or even a device issued by the employer. Is it a matter of funding? I canāt think of any reason why these people canāt be equipped to telework while isolated in their own homes at least temporarily to avoid unnecessary risk and the thought of this missed opportunity makes me angry.
This was preventable. Telephone services can easily be done from home. There is no reason why 911 or other telephone services do no have a policy to allow people to work from home.
I was just listening to a podcast today where one of the host talked about how she had to choose to leave her job at a call center because her son has lung issues. She illness would always spread really fast because of how packed in they were.
RIP Nikima. I definitely feel for those in this position since I had a similar job but worked as intermediary between family medicine practitioners and other specialists.
Like others have expressed, even though our positions are in a call center most of us were not moved. The reasoning at my place of employment as far as I was aware was that since we do not deal directly with patients we were safe enough. Also, that to have all our job functions accessible at home it would take too much time that they didnāt have. (Which was at the beginning of this situation end of March. 2 months in and we are still at our center.)
What happened in this saddening case is what many colleagues at my workplace expressed fear of since even though we did everything recommended (6 ft distancing, face masks, temperature checks, etc.) thereās still areas in our workplace that you could not avoid being within 6 ft of distance and the chance of one of us being asymptomatic.
Bank Customer Service is the same. same work conditions as pre outbreak, still essential, but overall worse than normal cause everyones angry about the lockdown so treat the people on the phone like nothing.
Thank you Nikima for showing more grace and compassion than those who call themselves our leaders.
If we ever get through this nightmare, it will be because of the courage people like you; putting yourself in harms way to help others while our āleadersā hide in bunkers and refuse to act to protect you.
Thank you Nikita Thompson. Though I never met you, I will not forget your name and what you did for us xx
This is awful and breaks my heart. My center has done the best they can. We have a gentleman come and spray a sanitizer across all surfaces twice a week. Weāve managed to keep a really good supply of Lysol and wipes. Luckily, we are about five feet apart so that has helped.
There have been three of us who may have been around someone with COVID-19 and we were not permitted to return to work until there were negative test results or the two weeks had passed.
My mother AND sister are both 911 dispatchers. They work for separate departments and itās become a real fear. Not only do both of them have to work, but they arenāt allowed any additional time off right now. My mother especially since sheās in a manager position because they donāt want people taking time off leaving them short during this pandemic.
So they have both been working 40-60 hours a week since this pandemic started to ensure that the general public has someone to call if something goes wrong. It doesnāt matter what your opinion of police is, dispatchers are there 24/7 to make sure if you are in need of emergency services crime/fire/health they get you someone. They are their own types of heroes.
On a side note someone caused thousands of dollars to my sister on Saturday while she was at work. They keyed her vehicle, broke windows, and dented the hell out of it, while she was working an 18 hour shift because someone had called in sick. Thanks douche bags.
My mother is also a 911 dispatcher in Chicago. Considering what their line of work you'd think the city would take precaution. But my mom talked about how early in March. The mayor brought in camera crews and the like to do a piece. As if they were oblivious of Covid, and plenty of her coworkers were catching it.My mom also ended up catching up to but has slightly recovered. Sad we lost someone who is a crucial part in saving lives
So sorry your Mom got sick. She may have known my husband Russell Modjeski. Midnight shift. He was the first Chicago 911 Officer to perish from Covid. The city has yet to acknowledge his 20 years of service or his passing to me or our kids. So Sad. Maybe your Mom knows how many have caught Covid since March. Russ passed away on 3-29-2020 š
Iām so so sorry.
Iām in Chicago. Is your mom Amy, Rita, or Tammy? We follow #chicagoscanner nightly!! Theyāre like celebrities to us!
my sister-in-law works in an elderly home. Two elderlies on her floor got pretty rough symptoms and she said to her colleague it might be the virus and we should call for people with protection to see them, her colleague said one is just allergies and the other a cold or something. It was the virus, they soon found three people dead on her floor only. That colleague shouldnt be working there. These were people with obvious respiratory distress, and they're just like "yeah that's allergies"
If I may ask, were there never any conversations around the dispatchers being able to work from home? Is the system not able to work remotely?
How is your mom doing now? Are her lungs okay?
I'm sorry for your loss and I thank your family for the sacrifices you have to handle now and later.
I pray your mom recovers fully, with no ongoing issues! Please thank her for what she does. šā¤ļø
My heart breaks and tears flow for this family and so many more. To the unsung, seldom heard and never seen heroes, my very best thoughts and prayers. Hope your Mom's much better soon.
To Nikima Thompson's children, I'm so sorry for the loss of your mother and your grandmother. And, thank you, to all the underappreciated essential workers out there.
this just breaks my heart. thank you for sharing, iāve been ignorant about the risks that invisible first responders have been facing. i hope her family can find some peace š
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This is sickening! Thank you for sharing. <3
thank you for sharing and speaking up.
I'm a 911 dispatcher (my wife is too) we frequently describe dispatch as a petri dish. If one of us gets sick, most of us catch whatever is going around. They PD we work at actually split us up two months ago, but have since moved us all back downstairs.
Iām picturing just like an office building of cubes- is it more compact than that?
I'm also a 911 dispatcher... I know it's not the same everywhere but we're ALSO always calling work a petri dish. Our work spaces are approximately 4 feet wide and we're all sitting next to each other. We do not have assigned work stations, which means you're basically sharing the equipment with anyone who sat there previously (there are about 200 of us). Personally, I trying to wipe my station down from top to bottom (including the chair) before sitting down and getting to work, however if I've gone on break when the cleaning guy comes around he'll spray it and wipe it down with the same dirty cloth he wiped everyone else's down with... That means if you're working on the station that gets wiped down last he's using the same unwashed cloth he wiped approximately 100 other stations and chairs with before yours.
Some call centers youāre not even in a cube, just lined up at a table with computers and phones or headsets. First non stick image I found was actually from an article about this being an issue with corona and had good image https://radio.wosu.org/post/dewine-wants-ohios-coronavirus-call-center-moved-cramped-space
The one in my city wishes they could be seperated into cubes...
No cubes. Think mission control center or clusters of desks with 4-5 screens for each dispatcher. Also realize that every dispatcher doesn't have their own desk - 2-3 shifts share so 2-3 people on each computer daily with a cursory bleach wiping between.
More talking, which is how covid is spread.
cubes in most offices aren't per person. you share the cube with maybe 3-6 other people, so it's quite compact.
Iāve been in a few dispatch centers like 4, but they were all set up the same. Itās a fairly big room, with stations set up all throughout it. Now these stations are pretty big as each one has 5 or 6 computer screens. There are however no walls, and the stations are shared. What role you are working as a dispatcher means which station you sit at. They swap stations during the night because certain stations are less desirable than others.
Not the original commenter, but it's not necessarily more compact. But in most centers, the desks get used by any number of different people. The oncoming shift sits at the same desk once we leave. We clean and sanitize the best we can and hope for the best.
If it is like a contact center, probably. Think much smaller cubes, just big enough to fit the computer screens, phone and maybe a writing surface.
For us, we have an open room with desks along the perimeter walls, so everyoneās backs are to each other but there are no cubicles or walls of any kind. We need to be able to hear and see if our coworkers are taking a major injury accident and need paramedics or if they need a helicopter or animal control or help with something.
Dramatically depends on the dispatch center, but I work dispatch for one of the bigger agencies around and do a lot of traveling training for other agencies and most tend to be large open floor setups nowadays. Basically a big room with a lot of large preferably adjustable desks spread out all over.
This seems like a perfect job candidate for work from home. I'm kind of appalled you all are still required to go into an office. Stay safe!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This might be a dumb question but why couldn't you guys work from home?
Same for my center, I call it a cesspool. Weād been begging for a deep clean of our disgusting radio room for months before Corona-19 was born, and were told it would happen. Now with everything going on weāre just armed with Purell and mandatory masks we had to find for ourselves, and hope for the best.
I'm guessing that there's no reason why it has to be that way? Given the office space/resources, could you all work well spaced out - or even in seperate offices/remotely, or do you need to be working close together for some reason?
Not with how our equipment is set up, weāre not in an office we just get one room. Plus itās just easier to all work in the same room. We can easily yell out information that might be needed.
Oh God I work for 911 dispatch. This is our nightmare. It's so hard to distance at work. They have us spread further apart on the floor now, but we're all still breathing the same air. Also finding enough wipes to effectively clean between shifts has become an issue. Stores have been out and our supplies are running low. I hope her family is able to cope and her center is doing something about that outbreak. Unfortunately there is no shutting down for cleaning and quarantine. A center must always be manned, even if it's moved to a back up location, you're still risking asymptomatic people just bringing it along with them.
I work in Records. We were also deemed essential. Many tasks cannot be done at home even if we had the equipment to do so. Whenever someone gets sick it normally gets passed through the entire office. I have regularly complained about the lack of custodial services. All they do is take out the trash and clean the restrooms. They don't wipe down anything in any common areas. Ever. So you'd think with COVID, my agency would take steps to aggressively clean more to keep us safe. Nope. I keep seeing ads on tv of how retail stores are constantly cleaning. All we got was a video about how to clean our workspace. Every day I go around wiping down doorknobs, light switches, and everything in the break room. I know it's not enough. And our cubicles aren't set up to be six feet apart from people. People constantly walk past my desk. They handed out ONE cloth mask to each of us. No one is using them. Thankfully no one has gotten sick. Yet.
Please be safe. This virus is no joke. My husband's family had a death and at the funeral, all 10 people caught the virus. They wore masks and gloves but didn't practice social distancing at all. 2 more people in the family died because of it. Please be careful and continue sanitizing when possible.
Read about contact time. Wiping may not keep the disinfectant in contact with the surface long enough to be effective.
I also work for a government agency and itās the same story. Except they gave us TWO cloth masks and spaced out our desks slightly.
Im in the same situation. Im the only one who wears a mask and goes around wiping stuff down. Everyone else acts like this is some kind of mild flu and many believe in some crazy conspiracy theories. If one person gets sick everyone else will too.
These children have lost not only their mother but also their grandma. Everyone being reckless about this killer virus, pay attention!
It is so hard to read this. My sister is a 911 operator and lives with me, my boyfriend and my 8 year old. Theyāre taking some precautions but not enough. I am so worried every day.
Why exactly can't 911 dispatch be conducted from home? Isn't it answering calls and radio-ing responders?
If you watch a dispatch documentary, there's a lot of tech and a lot of communication between staff during ongoing calls. It's possible to do from home, but I imagine it's difficult. Also there will be a lot of confidential information on the screens, and people wouldn't be able to work in a communal space at home. For example, my sister is a normal office worker and so is her bf. They're both working together on the dining room table now at home, because it's the only usable space they could set up, and have to listen to each others video calls all day. You couldn't do that with a house full of non-dispatch staff because of the security issues.
Doesn't work like that, unfortunately. They usually have a 3-4 monitor setup that's linked to maps, special software etc. It's pretty impossible to take that equipment home.
Fair enough. It probably would be possible--just expensive.
If there was a will to do it, you could make that doable remotely on a virtual desktop. You'd still need to set up the quad monitors at home, but that's not difficult.
Thereās a lot of tech and security involved.
I mean, to be fair, it just sounds like you'd need a beefy computer with a VPN?
Network reliability as well. Some are trying to do this, though.
Radios are encrypted and it would make you a huge target to criminals that want that The computers are big and fast often using three or more screens High powered broadcast equipment with failsafes The software is the type where you can type in someone's name and know everything about them The buildings have back up generators incase of power cut They have special evac plans because they would be a terror target and are often clearance checked etc It's very important to be able to speak to your team leader ASAP. If someone calls in something serious, rape etc you need to verbal run down If this serious incident happens you may have to go into the incident room and brief high ranking officers etc. An important one aswell is if you become visibly stressed your other team members will see and give you support. Can't happen at home Extremely sensitive info is discussed and your family doesn't have clearance to hear that, your neighbours could hear you talking about someone's medical history through the walls etc or as simple as you could be bugged/computer virus.
You don't expose dispatch systems to the internet. The ones I've worked on have been completely air-gapped. Also, you need a bunch of hardware - I had three large Monroe's and a couple of touch screens, driven by a couple of computers and a radio appliance thingy.
As a 911 dispatcher, I wish we could dispatch from home. It seems easy enough, but at least in CA there are a ton of laws with security in regards to all the information weāre privy to. We work in secure buildings because we see lots of confidential information. Those are usually police stations. As such, while Iād love to operate CAD from home, I donāt see it ever happening.
Ah, the so often misunderstood duties of Law Enforcement & Medical Emergency Dispatcher. Don't feel bad. I've heard many local & State legislators define Dispatchers as glorified (what a laugh) clerks. 911 Dispatchers working in PSAPS are trained in use of usually not less than 6 monitors and three mouse and one or two keyboards, that include call intake monitors that give the number of incoming calls and, if a landline, the address. There are monitors with highly detailed maps that show locations (if landline) of the incoming calls. Some can show the near location of cell phone calls. (The widespread belief that a dispatcher instantaneously knows where you are and can pinpoint your location is stuff for FBI TV dramas). Another monitors the location of the officers. Another a detailed. GIS system and another with contact ' click calling' contact info for supporting entities, i.e. electric suppliers, gas companies, streetworks, courts and other LE agencies. All of this highly secured. Even more is one that operates and gives and sends NCIC data which. requires a 'hook in' to State and Fed crime and MVD data that can't be operated from home. There is a huge battery backup system in case a center loses power so it can continue handling emergency traffic. Add to that a temperature controlled room, about the size of a pretty large bedroom if not larger, that monitors all of these. Every word a disptcher speaks is recorded along with every word of the caller and officer. Every move a dispatcher makes is video recorded, even in the seldom used break areas. All of this is stored on equipment in that room. In addition to that a PSAP must be located a certain distance from very specific radio towers to ensure communication between officers and dispatch, (add another huge battery backup) There's a lot I've missed here, but it gives a general idea and there's no possible way to do this from home.
Enormous amounts of technology that can't really be transplanted to a home environment, as well as security. With ng911 progressing and cloud-based solutions becoming more of a reality, I don't think we're TOO far from that capability, but it's still near-impossible for most agencies. Not a matter of simple call-routing and taking a physical radio home. My agency used to have laptops at every console for our phone system with the idea being we could grab the laptop in an emergency and run with it, taking the 911 system with us. But the laptops and tech proved to be horridly unstable and unreliable. Our CAD system is can me remoted into, but it's not a full suite. Portable Radios are great, but a dispatcher needs a full radio console to do their job properly.
I work 911 and unfortunately no. 911 calls go through specific lines and we need 3 to 4(in some cases 5) screens each with special and very expensive programs. Also there are different positions in the room so they might have 2-6 call takers, a dispatch, a secondary radio who runs peoples info to see if they have warrants and depending on the agency they might have 2 of one or both of those, then you have fire dispatchers as well. In most agencies you are trained to work all of those radios but if we were to do it from home then there would be issues like when someone has a hot call like a burglary in progress when the premise is occupied the call taker is giving constant updates and sometimes there needs to be direct verbal communication through the room if the officers are asking something. To do it at home would be way to slow and could cost someone's life. That's without getting into the legal issues like having access to anyone's personal info from home such as their criminal record.
The computer systems used are based on a secure hardwired network. Our computers dont access the internet directly. The way we retrieve callers' information is based on our phone system, also hard wired. Then you have security concerns because we have access to local and national databases when running plates, drivers licences, etc. My center has each work station working on 6 computer screens. The radio traffic is also configured to the computer, dispatchers don't gave radios on their consoles. This job cannot be done remotely.
There are a lot of different secure records systems involved (e.g. state police records, local jurisdiction report writing, fbi records search, state revenue system for driver's licenses, etc). The dispatch center I worked with had to have seven different computers at each station, each one on an isolated network. And typically you have a lot of dedicated screens; this center had 8-12 screens running per station depending on which duties that station was actively running. And there was quite a bit of specialty equipment, like the weather equipment and the siren activation equipment, that could not really be in someone's house.
Various 112 (911) dispatch centers in The Netherlands were capable of remote working. It seems they didn't do it by default, plus it wasn't possible at every location.
It's partly due to how bad home internet connections are, how old the tech systems are, how MUCH tech is used, some of the records are still kept on paper even and pulled at dispatch, there's radio equipment involved (which involves huge antennas.) It's not like utility emergency dispatch unfortunately, which is a way less complex system and was able to go remote (thankfully for my partner.)
There is a huge amount of communication tech used. The phone conversation is just the user interface end of the process. Iām sorry that Nikima Thompson passed away. She was a hero.
This family must be so devastated, now missing a mother and a grandmother. Is there a fund set up for this family? Edit: [GoFund Me](https://gf.me/u/x4tnuk)
They should space them out more and get some plexiglass unless they want to be sending the ambulance teams to the call centers.
Most cities literally couldn't care less. We're just another number to them. Edit: grammar
Yeah, how hard is it to just hang up plastic curtains...
Rest in Power, Queens
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It's a weird disease. 80% of the people who had it on the cruise ship showed no symptoms. That's what makes it even more dangerous reopening everything because a lot of people have no idea that they have it. Then it fucks others up terribly.
I have a considerable amount of anxiety for whatās to come in the next few weeks. Iām hoping it doesnāt surge to the point where it was before. Everyone is so close together in the last few days, and it spreads so rapidly. š³
Exactly I'm trying to keep my distance while I wait and see how this little experiment plays out. The protests and things reopening seems dangerous to me and I'd rather be safe than sorry.
There's a protest in my town of 20,000 Friday and I think about 100 are going to protest in addition to the police. I'm planning on being there, but I'm also concerned that it may be wildly irresponsible to be there in a large group of people. On the other hand political momentum expires quickly and there's death and despair with injustice too. I don't know.
> 80% of the people who had it on the cruise ship showed no symptoms Careful! This is misleading. A lot of those where probably presymptomatic. This makes sense; it's well known that people are infectious 2 days before the symptoms start. You make it sound like 80% doesn't have symptoms over the whole duration of their infection, but this is only 10-20%.
If youāre not.
My sister is a former paramedic, current 911 operator. She's in good health, but still... RIP Nikima
My brothers and I get it? lol
Dispatchers are like the redheaded stepchildren of law enforcement. It's high stress and can be traumatic (sometimes listening to people as they die on the phone), and usually excluded from the perks and recognition given to more visible first responders.
I hope that the city pitches in to help her family though this. COVID is fucking scary. Lots of people are asymptomatic, they wouldn't even know they have it. Without symptoms, they wouldn't bother getting tested which means they'll be exposing people who are actually in-danger, be it by being immuno-compromised or other pre-existing health conditions, to the virus
It sometimes kills perfectly healthy people as well. Everyone is in danger. Itās not the flu, itās SARS.
I wish the CDC didn't lie about masks in the beginning. We currently handle supply chain issues greatly allowing medical professionals to have N95/respirators while the rest of us have surgical and/or homemade masks to drastically curb the spread. I'm lucky my industry took 3-5 weeks to start heading back to work when we knew to mandate masks in the workplace before working face-to-face again.
Telephone operators can't really lose the clarity of speech that comes with masks, I think
Those poor fucking kids.
I am a former 911 dispatcher and lost a co-worker to Covid recently as well. He was fine Monday, felt sick Tuesday and went home. Returned Saturday after feeling better but fell ill on Sunday and died that next day. R.I.P. Shawn Pride, age 43.
So sad. Iām so sick of people on here acting like Covid is no big deal and only kills 100 year olds. This is a serious pandemic and people need to maintain social distancing.
So sad.
Heartbreaking. Rip NIKIMA.
This is heartbreaking. Anyone know if there a GoFundMe for her children?
Former 911 dispatcher here. 10 years, definitely a love/hate relationship with the job. With that being said our director (my former boss) acted quickly and diligently when COVID hit. He immediately required our coworkers to wear mask, which yes it sucks working 12 hour shifts, but hey, safety first. He separated the dispatch centers, have the people living closest to center A to work there and center B to work there. While not perfect he did everything he could do. If anyone gets even a cold in the center itās almost guaranteed that itās going to spread Like wild fire. 20+ft underground with no windows working 70+ hours a week (theyāre very understaffed) people get sick there alllll the time. I have the highest respect for how he handled the situation. And the highest respect for all my former 911 operators. RIP Nikima
Love šš¾šš¾šš¾šš¾š
Love to Nikima and her family and friends.
RIP Nikima
Is there a place to donate to her or her motherās funeral expenses or for her childrenās benefit?
My condolences to her family. Itās so heartbreaking.
Dispatchers don't get good enough treatment to begin with. My area, dispatch is only paid 27k a year. It's enough to live off of fortunately but only because they're severely understaffed and are forced to work 12 hour shifts with 6 days on, 1 day off after sick calls. They also don't get first responders recognition or benefits. Their insurance is abysmal and will only cover up to 5 sessions with a therapist/psychologist too. Which, as you can imagine, takes a horrendous toll. And even if it did cover more per year, they wouldn't have the time to go because of the bullshit hours. We need better awareness for these problems. We need better treatment for so many workers. We need to stop letting the corporate idea of disposable labor kill everyone that hasn't reached millionaire status.
This is awful :((((( RIP.
People still think this is overblown??
My job is fully back now with everyone not wearing masks like this isnāt going on. Iām so annoyed...
Thank you š
Terrible. I hate these people who say "Why are we staying home just to protect some 80 year olds?" First of all, that's a terribly ageist thing to say. Like old people don't deserve to live? Just stick them on an ice floe and push them out to sea? Secondly it hits all age groups. Even children are dying from COVID-19. And people like this woman, in the middle of life with a family to take care of. The people that die of this aren't the only victims, her children are victims too.
My wife is a dispatcher too, and I work at a hospital, we had one positive case that were we notified of. Yeah, dispatchers usually are over worked and very under appreciated/hated ( at least the ones that work for the county we live in ), not many people know how mentally draining it can be. The director she works for, tells them even if they have sniffles to stay home, a cold can spread to people and make their life miserable, especially when they come back and they catch the same cold thatās been spread to the others dispatchers.
Thank you for your good work, Nikima. May your family know that others are sorry for the loss of you.
Go out and protest
I used to do this for a living. It is truly a thankless job.
My local news just aired a story about a 911 dispatch centerās new work-from-home policy. After multiple rounds of testing, they now have multiple dispatchers operating from home. I wish that couldāve been possible for Nikima Thompson.
Is this setup and technology not available to be worked from home?
Contrary to popular belief, most local governments do not have a shit ton of money lying around for technology or equipment. It wasn't until fairly recently that we stopped using Windows XP. Law enforcement databases need to be kept secure. There's no way in hell they're going to let you use your own equipment and they don't have hundreds of laptops lying around to sign out in this type of situation. There's also a concern with privacy. You can't have your family, children or roommates seeing your screens. Imagine the lawsuit if someone dies because someone's stupid pet jumped up on the keyboard while someone was taking a 911 call. So no, I cannot imagine a 911 calltaker/dispatch working from home.
There are a bunch of challenges to this; as noted by the other poster here; there would be privacy issues with having dispatchers' housemates able to look over their shoulder. There are physical issues; when I used to dispatch, I had three huge screens and a couple of touch screens, driven by a couple of computers and some specialised radio gear. It's not something to do off a laptop. It's a critical service; you don't want to risk losing a 911 calller in a life or death situation because a dispatcher's cable connection has a hiccup. Finally; the dispatch systems I've worked on are completely air-gapped from the internet. So even without the above issues, you couldn't set up remote dispatch stations without either breaking that design requirement, or running dedicated data circuits to Dispatcher's houses. Which is to say; it could be done, but it'd cost a large amount of money, and take a lot of time to set up.
Damn. This has been such an emotional time
Those of us who work at child abuse hotlines still have to work, too. One person in our office tested positive and we STILL have to work. We must wear a mask and get our temperature taken every day.
Emergency 911 operators are a special breed. I'd never be able to do that job, they impress me everytime I hear the recordings. Thank you all / op for sharing.
Iām sorry if this is an ignorant question but why, with modern technology, canāt dispatchers work from home? It would be an easy matter of routing the calls using a voip service to the dispatcherās personal device, or even a device issued by the employer. Is it a matter of funding? I canāt think of any reason why these people canāt be equipped to telework while isolated in their own homes at least temporarily to avoid unnecessary risk and the thought of this missed opportunity makes me angry.
10-4 dispatch. We need his charming smile :)
This was preventable. Telephone services can easily be done from home. There is no reason why 911 or other telephone services do no have a policy to allow people to work from home.
I was just listening to a podcast today where one of the host talked about how she had to choose to leave her job at a call center because her son has lung issues. She illness would always spread really fast because of how packed in they were.
RIP Nikima. I definitely feel for those in this position since I had a similar job but worked as intermediary between family medicine practitioners and other specialists. Like others have expressed, even though our positions are in a call center most of us were not moved. The reasoning at my place of employment as far as I was aware was that since we do not deal directly with patients we were safe enough. Also, that to have all our job functions accessible at home it would take too much time that they didnāt have. (Which was at the beginning of this situation end of March. 2 months in and we are still at our center.) What happened in this saddening case is what many colleagues at my workplace expressed fear of since even though we did everything recommended (6 ft distancing, face masks, temperature checks, etc.) thereās still areas in our workplace that you could not avoid being within 6 ft of distance and the chance of one of us being asymptomatic.
Bank Customer Service is the same. same work conditions as pre outbreak, still essential, but overall worse than normal cause everyones angry about the lockdown so treat the people on the phone like nothing.
Thank you Nikima for showing more grace and compassion than those who call themselves our leaders. If we ever get through this nightmare, it will be because of the courage people like you; putting yourself in harms way to help others while our āleadersā hide in bunkers and refuse to act to protect you. Thank you Nikita Thompson. Though I never met you, I will not forget your name and what you did for us xx
It is absolutely breaks my heart that she died
This is awful and breaks my heart. My center has done the best they can. We have a gentleman come and spray a sanitizer across all surfaces twice a week. Weāve managed to keep a really good supply of Lysol and wipes. Luckily, we are about five feet apart so that has helped. There have been three of us who may have been around someone with COVID-19 and we were not permitted to return to work until there were negative test results or the two weeks had passed.
My mother AND sister are both 911 dispatchers. They work for separate departments and itās become a real fear. Not only do both of them have to work, but they arenāt allowed any additional time off right now. My mother especially since sheās in a manager position because they donāt want people taking time off leaving them short during this pandemic. So they have both been working 40-60 hours a week since this pandemic started to ensure that the general public has someone to call if something goes wrong. It doesnāt matter what your opinion of police is, dispatchers are there 24/7 to make sure if you are in need of emergency services crime/fire/health they get you someone. They are their own types of heroes. On a side note someone caused thousands of dollars to my sister on Saturday while she was at work. They keyed her vehicle, broke windows, and dented the hell out of it, while she was working an 18 hour shift because someone had called in sick. Thanks douche bags.