For many departments, the use of a civilian dispatch center has become a lightning rod of controversy. Many people in and around the fire service are of the opinion that sworn personnel can do the job better and more easily than civilians. Civilian dispatchers argue otherwise and are convinced that firefighters just can't handle the needs of a computer-based dispatch center.

The truth is a combination of both opinions, but the fact remains that most fire dispatch centers are staffed by civilians, serving in a firefighter culture that fosters the unacknowledged, and many times unconscious, idea that there's a conflict between sworn/field personnel and civilian employees. While a conflict with office employees such as payroll or information systems can be managed, if this conflict exists between the field and the dispatch center, life-threatening problems can ensue.

To address dispatch integration, we must first have a general idea of the different forms the civilian dispatch center takes. Primarily, there are three types of civilian dispatch centers:

• The all-civilian employee dispatch center.
• A civilian dispatch center using sworn fire captains as dispatch supervisors.
• A civilian dispatch center including civilian supervisors, but overseen by sworn management, usually a battalion or division chief.

All three of these dispatch center types present different issues when looking to assimilate them into the fire department.

Assimilated ranks

The first hurdle that many fire departments find revolves around the issues of acceptance, respect and authority. This problem is much smaller when dealing with a dispatch center that includes sworn captains as supervisors. There's an inherent level of respect provided the fire captains in response to the many hoops and hurdles the captain was required to jump through during the course of his or her career. Other field personnel will therefore accept the dispatch center, or at least the dispatch supervisor, more readily.

This built-in level of respect does not occur in an all-civilian dispatch center or one with civilian management. In these cases, it's up to the dispatch center and to the department to establish a level of respect for the center. Because the fire service is established along the lines of a paramilitary organization, following the military's example on rank would be a natural step to fill the needs of the fire service. The military has found the use of assimilated ranks more or less a seamless way to integrate civilians. While the military has a deeply defined and meaningful rank structure, it has found a way to place civilian employees into their system with specific pay grades and privileges according to their assimilated rank.

The effect of this system is that civilians are treated with respect according to their rank. For example, a civilian doctor who works for the department of Navy may have the assimilated rank of lieutenant commander or a government services rating of GS13. This means that the doctor is paid at this pay rate and holds the rights of a lieutenant commander. More importantly, it pertains to the respect given to the civilian's views, opinions and recommendations, even when in opposition to career military officers.

In the civilian dispatch center this would take the form of supervisors being given an assimilated rank of captain while civilians are given assimilated ranks of battalion chief or division chief. Management from the fire chief on down must be expected to uphold and defend the rights and authority of the assimilated civilians. This would pertain especially to any official meetings, briefings or assignments that occur within the department.

Unfortunately, many times the views, opinions and needs are not clearly understood or respected throughout the rank structure, leaving the dispatch center in limbo. Listening to and respecting dispatch's views will be hard in the firefighter culture, specifically at the level of battalion chief and above. But if the authority is given and defended by the upper management, the use of assimilated ranks can be successful.

Chiefs as managers

To some, the answer seems obvious: Use sworn battalion or division chiefs to oversee the civilian dispatch center, rather than spending time and money developing an assimilated rank structure. In theory, this option would seem to be the fitting choice; the battalion or division chief would already have built-in respect and authority.

In practice, however, there are just as many issues that must be worked out with using chiefs as managers as there are with creating an assimilated rank structure. Chiefs often are outside the day-to-day operations of the center. They aren't involved in actually doing the job, thus removing them from the problems, concerns or issues — both good and bad — that the employees are experiencing. They have no background with which to help provide direction to the center because their careers have revolved around fighting fires, not the other side of the radio. The needs of most civilian dispatch centers are too much for a manager who isn't directly involved or who at least has risen through the dispatch rank and file and understands the dispatch center.

Another issue that must be considered when using a battalion or division chief in dispatch is a lack of interest. As long as the chief takes a leadership role and adopts a style that dictates his or her complete involvement and commitment to the dispatch center, there will tend to be fewer problems, allowing the center to thrive. However, many times chiefs decide to take a staff position for promotional reasons rather than out of a desire to lead a dispatch center. This leaves the center without a fully committed advocate for its issues and causes in management. How can the dispatch center demand respect if the manager shows little interest?

It must be understood that dispatch isn't a place where one bides one's time, only to move to greener pastures when the opportunity presents itself. To fully assimilate a dispatch center, it requires dedication and a commitment to advocating the dispatch position.

This same issue goes for departments that use captains as dispatch supervisors or lead-workers, such as the California Department of Forestry. Captains need to accept the position and become fully trained and functioning dispatchers, not just figureheads. This is the only way they can correctly identify and fix problems or push the center to improve. Becoming a fully trained dispatcher in all aspects of the job is critical to the well-being of the center. While the CDF has succeeded in integrating captains into the dispatch center, the use of captains as dispatch supervisors often fails. Many captains are unwilling or sometimes unable to learn the many intricacies of the dispatch job. The more technologically advanced the center, the more true this statement becomes due to the required amount of training necessary for the captain to become a functioning dispatch supervisor.

Specific training

The second issue that must be properly planned for when assimilating a civilian dispatch center is training. Training is critical to ensure the civilian dispatchers have the knowledge to provide detailed assistance to the first responders. This is another area where the controversy of using civilians over field personnel comes to the forefront.

Naturally firefighters come to the position with a certain amount of fire knowledge that most civilians lack. Yet, in the dispatch center of the new millennium, computer, radio and other technological issues hold primary importance. Fire and medical knowledge, while important to the job, becomes secondary, weakening any advantage to a fire background.

What this equates to is a need for an in-depth training program that encompasses both general fire knowledge and dispatcher-specific training. A well-designed training program can almost negate any advantage to having firefighters in the dispatch center.

To accomplish this task, fire departments need to consider establishing a dispatcher academy. Just as most departments require firefighters, engineers and captains to attend academies to attain the necessary knowledge, so should dispatchers be put through a dispatcher academy. A dispatcher academy can be set up in a variety of ways depending on how much information or training is necessary to perform the job. Training, however, does not end at the completion of a dispatcher academy. The job usually still requires significant on-the-job training.

The Orange County (Calif.) Fire Authority conducts a six-week dispatcher academy using an 800-page manual in conjunction with classes on all aspects of the fire service taught by both dispatch and field personnel. The dispatch trainee graduates the academy with a basic theoretical knowledge of both the fire service and dispatch. The trainee follows the academy with one year of hands-on mentoring by a qualified and experienced dispatcher. During this phase, the dispatcher will learn all of the necessary tools and information to perform the job.

Even after a year the dispatcher isn't fully trained, but he or she is released from probation. There are many topics that aren't covered or used during the course of a year that must be experienced and learned over the next few years. In reality, an OCFA dispatcher isn't fully trained, tested and experienced in all dispatch functions for two to three years. Still the demands made of dispatchers at the OCFA aren't unusual and can be found at fire departments across the country.

Terms of understanding

Surprisingly, you will find that some long-term dispatchers understand the operations of a fire department better than many battalion chiefs working for the same department. The scope of training to be a fire dispatcher in a medium to large dispatch center is very encompassing of the overall fire service, yet this knowledge is derided and minimized by many fire officers.

One of the key areas of knowledge that must be taught to civilian dispatchers is fire terminology. With the proper terminology, from local fire terms to general ICS terms, the dispatch center and the field units can properly communicate with one another. There can be no misunderstanding between the field and dispatch on incidents. If miscommunication becomes common, the possibility of injury or death to personnel or the public increases. Fire terminology and a basic understanding of fire is the best way to assimilate the civilian dispatch center.

Two groups that speak the same language will be in a better situation to handle emergencies than having a dispatch center ill-trained to understand the field. Still, this is a two-way street. It's necessary to educate the sworn personnel in the functions and terminology of the dispatch center. This has tended to be an area of resistance on the part of field personnel who think it's unnecessary or beneath them.

Depending on your department and the duties of your dispatch center, your dispatchers may be trained and educated in many disciplines unknown to field personnel. This includes general computer knowledge such as Microsoft Office; computer-aided dispatch; emergency medical dispatching; automatic and mutual aid agreements; resource request and tracking for local, state and federal equipment; local, state and federal agreements; radio and trunking systems; MDT and MDCs; and many more topics. For example, a firefighter may be the best candidate to understand what an articulating boom is or what an OS&Y is and how it works, but it may be best to train your civilian dispatchers to understand these basics subjects. Most likely, a firefighter or captain isn't going to understand the requirements of Type 4 engines responding onto BLM land or be able to explain how the trunking system works on an 800MHz radio system.

This isn't to say that firefighters can't do the job. The Los Angeles Fire Department's use of sworn firefighters in the dispatch center is a success and has been so for many years. And yet, there are far more civilian dispatch centers that also excel at their jobs than to make light of the amount of training and knowledge required of a dispatcher.

Critical integration

There are very few fire captains and battalion chiefs, let alone firefighters, who understand the full extent of the role of dispatch, yet there remains an attitude of disdain for the dispatch center or position of dispatcher. An assimilated dispatch center can help to eliminate this disdain, helping firefighters become responsive to dispatcher needs. It's best to also establish a field-training program on dispatch. Whether this is accomplished in a one-hour training session or is integrated into academies followed by dispatch sit-alongs depends on the needs of your department. But it's critical for the field to be trained as to the functions, role and needs of the dispatch center almost as much as the dispatch center.

Training is critical for the full integration of the civilian dispatch center into the operations section of a fire department. By cross-training your dispatchers in a good variety of topics, the dispatch center will be able to assimilate more easily.

Since the mid-'90s, dispatching for many departments has become such a specialized function. It makes more sense hiring all-civilian dispatch centers rather than attempting to cross-train firefighters. Dispatching today involves a serious amount of training on computers, which managers must consider when hiring new employees. The dispatcher of the new millennium needs to be skilled in many things.

While totally ruling out the use of civilians in the dispatch center can't be done, it's evident that the job is very different from any other in the fire service. It takes an enormous amount of knowledge to be a fully functioning dispatcher in a major fire department. This fact needs to be considered by fire chiefs and management in all fire departments.

Being a successful fire department may require you to find ways to assimilate your dispatch center into the firefighter culture and the fire service as a whole. You need to examine your department, your dispatch center and your department's attitudes toward dispatch and realize that changes may need to be made. It's clearly in the fire service's and the public's interests to use the methods and information available to assimilate your dispatch center.

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Michael A. LaPean has been a dispatcher and move-up supervisor in the emergency communications section of the Orange County (Calif.) Fire Authority for the 14 years. A previously published author, he holds a master's degree in history and is currently pursuing his MBA at Pepperdine University.

Budgetary Concerns

The concern for many departments regarding the assimilation of the dispatch center will be one mainly of cost, which is a valid concern. There is an associated cost to develop and integrate the civilians in your dispatch center into the larger fire department culture. But it's time to ask yourself if it is better in the long run for your department and for the public at large to have a better coordinated and functioning dispatch center.

Many departments did away with using sworn personnel during the 1970s and '80s due to the relative cost-to-benefit ratio. Yet it's time to re-examine the cost-to-benefit ratio when it comes to pay parity and dispatch assimilation. Dispatchers today aren't the firefighters of the '70s. Today, it's a highly specialized job requiring a high level of skill, knowledge and training.

Grudgingly, departments allocate funds to their dispatch center budget for things such as new radios or new CAD systems. Many, however, don't like to spend more money to train personnel. For many fire chiefs, dispatch is almost a necessary evil, instead of a critical function in the chain of an emergency. Your dispatchers are the first experience the public is going to have when they dial 911, and it may be best for your department to remember that fact and to find a new paradigm when it comes to the budget for your dispatch center.