Currently, public safety answering points (PSAPs) and emergency communication centers (ECC) are operational 24/7 every day with varied schedules that require minimum staffing levels and, more often than not, mandatory overtime to fill shift vacancies. The real-life risks of a lack of recognitionĪnyone who calls 911 expects a person to answer immediately and competently, provide police, fire or medical pre-arrival instructions and send help. To mitigate an already growing list of risks, it is important to formally recognize 911 telecommunicators as first responders. Unfortunately, this position reclassification request did not get approved. This SOC reclassification would have changed the status of emergency dispatchers from an “ Administrative Support” classification, such as switchboard and telephone operators , to a “ Protective” classification, such as police officers, firefighters, and even playground monitors.
Although the Department of Homeland Security clearly defines dispatchers as first responders by its definition alone, the question of whether 911 telecommunicators are really first responders has been asked repeatedly over the last six years by public officials since APCO International initiated a revision to the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) in 2014.
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