Last week, I had the opportunity to attend APCO’s 911 Staffing Crisis Summit in Fort Worth, TX. This impactful 2 ½ day event featured leaders in 911 who have successfully changed their ECCs’ cultures in a bid to stop the rising turnover that has become synonymous with public safety communications. The leaders shared invaluable insights on retaining good employees, addressing the problematic ones (yes, even when that means helping them find the door), and changing their leadership styles to be a little more flexible and holistic, focusing more on the person and less on metrics and KPIs. One key takeaway that resonated through the summit: culture is key.
The Unsung Heroes of Public Safety
Public safety communications professionals have long existed in a hazy, nebulous area between the heroism of public safety and the demands of the service industry. Our field responders – police, fire, and EMS – are called to a career of courage and personal sacrifice. Because of the element of danger in exchange for modest benefits, public safety is one of the noblest professions, second only to military service. Joining the ranks is a calling and a privilege. Why don’t we look at ECCs in the same light?
ECC personnel are THE first responders to the worst moments of the human experience: violent crimes, accidents, medical emergencies, and heart-wrenching cries for help. They take a chaotic event and classify it, organize the information, and calmly communicate what they are hearing to field responders. They anticipate what will come next to ensure that the appropriate resources arrive quickly and have an idea of what they are walking into. On a great day, ECC staff deliver babies and convince the suicidal person to step back from the edge of the bridge they’re standing on. Public safety communicators save lives, even though they risk their own health and well-being in the process. The profound impact of other peoples’ traumatic incidents on ECC personnel has only recently gained widespread recognition. In order to retain high quality personnel, leaders in public safety need to change the narrative that ECC employees are less heroic than their peers on the road and they need to invest in the idea that public safety telecommunicators are professional first responders who are also deserving of career development initiatives and special risk classification.
A Calling, Not Just a Job
Working in the ECC requires a unique blend of skills: empathy, resilience, incident prioritization, and the ability to stay calm under the most intense pressure. ECC personnel impact lives with every decision they make, both good and bad. The only way to become better at one’s job is by gaining experience. The institutional knowledge that leaves the ECC when a veteran employee walks out the door can be devastating to the organization and to the community. It is critical that we start treating public safety communicators as professionals who are called upon to make an impact. Agency leaders need to ensure that their ECCs provide career paths, meaningful recognition programs, and a culture that encourages the same level of respect provided to sworn and field personnel. When we raise the bar on our own internal culture, we will promote excellence and convince our staff that this is a career they can flourish in and be proud of.